UNLV WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COMES UP JUST SHORT IN OVERTIME, FALLS 69-65 TO MONTANA

By Mark Wasik:

Lady Rebels will play in Round-Up consolation game on Sunday at 1 pm

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV ended the second half on an 8-0 run to force overtime, but ran out of gas in the extra period in a 69-65 loss to Montana in the first game of the Lady Rebel Round-Up on Saturday afternoon in the Cox Pavilion. The Lady Rebels (2-3) will now play in the consolation game of the tournament on Sunday at 1 pm against Bowling Green, while Montana (3-1) will play in the championship game at 3:30 pm against Villanova. 

 

Montana led 60-52 with 2:50 to play in the second half after a jumper by Kenzie De Boer. Kelli Thompson would lead a UNLV rally, converting back-to-back three-point plays to make it a 60-58 game at the 1:15 mark. After drawing a Montana charge on the other end, UNLV came down looking for a layup, but had the ball knocked out of bounds with three seconds on the shot clock. The in bounds play had Thompson taking a three from the corner, but her shot hit the front of the rim. After a scramble for the rebound, Alana Cesarz picked up the ball and scored from two feet out to tie the game at 60-60 with eight seconds to play Montana's final shot was wide, sending the game to overtime, the first of the year for UNLV.

In the overtime period the game was tied at 64-64, but three free throws from Kelli Cole and De Boer put Montana ahead 67-64. UNLV's Réjane Vérin hit one of two at the line to cut the edge to 67-65 with a minute to play. Katie Baker then made the play of the game for Montana, sinking a jumper at the end of the shot clock for a four-point lead with 30 seconds to go.

"First round of the tournament you always want to be ready to go," said UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier. "I felt like Montana took the initiative early, though we fought back and we showed a lot of character to not give up. Second round, we need to regroup and come out with more intensity a little earlier in the game."

UNLV's last lead in the game was at 8-7 on a three-point play from Thompson. Montana then put together a 12-0 run over a 2:41 span, going ahead 19-8 on a De Boer layup at the 11:05 mark of the first half. The advantage was at nine for the visitors, 30-21, before the Lady Rebels scored the final five points of the half to go into halftime down 30-26.

The lead was cut to four times in the opening minutes of the second half, the last 38-35 on a Danielle Miller jumper. Montana answered back with four straight to open up a seven-point lead, and would increase its advantage to as high as 10, 56-46, with 4:17 left before the half's final few minutes.

Miller led all scorers with a career-high 19 points and also added seven rebounds for UNLV. Thompson notched 18 points while Cesarz just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. The Lady Rebels shot 37.7% (23-of-61) for the afternoon, was 3-of-14 from three-point range, and 16-of-24 at the line for 66.7%. UNLV was out rebounded 45-44 and the Lady Griz held a 13-5 edge on second chance points.

Montana was paced by De Boer's 18 points. Baker and Cole both posted 14 while Jordan Sullivan added 11 for the Lady Griz. Montana made 24-of-66 from the floor for 36.4%, was 4-of-22 from downtown for 18.2%, and 17-of-29 at the line (58.6%).