Lady Rebs give Lady Heels a scare

November 23, 2009 by Sean Jaramillo 

UNLV beat Sac State in OT, lose to No. 4 North Carolina

UNLV’s women’s basketball team took the North Carolina Lady Tar Heels to the limit before losing 78-68 on Sunday.

The game was the second in three days for the Lady Rebels. UNLV beat Sacramento State on Friday 97-92 in overtime.

UNLV trailed by six points twice during the final four minutes of the game, but untimely fouls gave UNC free throws that ended any chance at a run.

“Our main thing at the end of the game is rebounds and free throws,” said sophomore forward Jamie Smith.

Free throws plagued the Lady Rebels all night, as they shot 19-32 (59.4 percent) on the night.

“At home, you’ve got to make your free throws,” said head coach Kathy Olivier. “Hopefully, the players now understand the importance of it.”

UNLV shot three three-point attempts early in the game against UNC, but they were unable to capitalize, as they quickly went down 13-3.

Smith led UNLV in points (17) and rebounds (18).

Freshman Kelli Thompson added 15 points for the Lady Rebels.

The Lady Rebels did advance to 2-0 on the road this season, as they came back to take down Sacramento State inside the Hornets’ Nest.

UNLV trailed the Hornets by four points going into the final minute, 88-84. The comeback began when Thompson hit two free throws with 46 seconds to go in the game.

When Sacramento State got the ball back, Sandrine Nzeukou stole the ball for the Lady Rebels and sent it to Smith on the fastbreak for the game-tying layup.

In the overtime period Erica Helms broke a 90-90 tie with a jump shot and Thompson got a layup of her own on the next possession to give UNLV a four-point edge with two minutes to go.

Following a pair of Hornet free throws, the Lady Rebels nearly turned the ball over, but Helms dropped a key three-point basket as the shot clock expired to put the team up for good.

UNLV trailed for much of the game, at one point going down by 10 points in the first half.

The Lady Rebels took the lead late in the first half, but a three-point buzzer beater from the Hornets put them down 43-42 at halftime.

Thompson led UNLV in scoring with 26 points and shot 5-10 from three-point range.

Nzeukou led in rebounds with 11 and added 21 points for the first double-double of her career.

Smith also managed a double-double, tallying 11 points and 10 rebounds.Helms added 20 points, making her the third Lady Rebel to score at least 20 in the game.

Next for the Lady Rebels is the Lady Rebel Round-up. They start by playing Boise State on Saturday at 2 p.m.