Lady Rebels eliminated
UNLV rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to tie the score on three occasions in the closing minutes, but Wyoming hit enough clutch shots to escape with a 60-55 victory in the first round of the Mountain West Conference women’s tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Aubrey Vandiver had 24 points and seven rebounds to lead the Cowgirls, but it was Jade Kennedy that made big shots down the stretch.
After UNLV had tied the game for the third time in the half, Kennedy hit a 3-pointer with about 1:45 to play. Sandrine Nzeukou hit a pair of free throws for the Lady Rebels, but Kennedy hit another jumper to push the margin back to three.
“Aubrey really carried this team for about 34 minutes and during one timeout I talked about that other people needed to step up because we were just watching her,” head coach Joe Legerski said. “Jade came out and made a huge (3-pointer) and then hit a very important jumper for us.”
Kennedy scored 10 points in the game, but nine came in the final 6:30 of the game.
“I shot a couple of shots early in the first half. They felt good, but they just weren’t dropping,” she said.
Vandiver said not allowing the Lady Rebels to ever take the lead despite the three ties was important mentally.
“We wouldn’t have been completely defeated if they had taken the lead, but it was big for us to get back momentum,” she said.
Kelli Thompson led UNLV with 15 points and Markiell Styles had 13 points and 13 rebounds. Jamie Smith was held to six points on 3 of 9 shooting, but pulled down a tournament-record 18 rebounds. It was part of a 53-34 rebounding edge for UNLV in the game. That total included an unbelievable 24 offensive boards.
The downside of that many offensive rebounds is it means you were missing a lot of shots and that was certainly the case tonight.
UNLV made 20 of 67 attempts from the field, a 29.9 percent clip. The Lady Rebels shot an even more woeful 2-for-15 from beyond the arc.
Record breaker
Jamie Smith got two offensive rebounds on one possession in the final minute of the game to give her 18 in the game.
The mark was good enough for the all-time record in the tournament.
The previous mark was also held by a Lady Rebel. Linda Frohlich had 17 in a game in 2002.
Smith said the record felt pretty empty coming in a losing effort.
“I don’t really care about the records. I care about the wins,“ she said. Next year, hopefully those rebounds will help us win.”
Smith said she is looking forward to next season and feels she will fill a similar role.
“I’m just going to keep on doing what I’m doing. I know my role on this team is to get rebounds and be a leader on the floor and that’s what I’m going to continue to do,” she said.
The team also broke the record for most rebounds in an MWC tournament game by pulling down 53. The previous mark was 46 by New Mexico in 2005.
If you win, they will come
The statement wasn’t quite as powerful as the famous line from Field of Dreams, but Kathy Olivier made it clear there is only one way for the program to get fans to show up at the home games.
The problem was highlighted tonight by the fact Wyoming fans far outnumbered UNLV fans at a tournament game in Las Vegas.
“We just need to continue to take care of business and the people will come,” Olivier said, before only half-jokingly pointing out the one section that was filled with UNLV fans. “The band was awesome.”
Good advice
The entire arena heard Wyoming coach Joe Legerski screaming at Jade Kennedy to extend her arms on her follow-through.
Not long after, Kennedy made the back-to-back baskets that keyed the victory.
“Yeah, I was short-arming a bit and not holding my follow-through. He just reminded me to focus on that,“ she said before turning to Legerski with a big smile. “Thanks coach.”
Looking ahead
UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier said she was more disappointed in the season coming to an end that she was in the loss tonight.
“I’m a little disappointed that it’s over. I really enjoy coaching this team,“ she said. “We’re young. We have good energy. We fought the whole game and I’m just bummed that it’s over.”
Sophomore Jamie Smith also said she is looking ahead to next year. She feels the way the team rebounded in this game shows they have the heart and desire to become a winning program.
“Rebounding is hustle and I think our team definitely had that hustle,” she said. “We fought until the end. Just the way we outrebounded them shows that this team is willing to fight and we’re ready to come back next year.”
Up Next
Day one of the MWC tournament is over, but the action gets started again at 2 p.m. tomorrow with the first men’s game of the week.
Wyoming will play Air Force in the opening round game, which is essentially a play-in game to earn the right to face top-seeded New Mexico in the quarterfinals.
Women’s action continues with a pair of second-round games.
New Mexico will play Utah in the first of those at 4:30, followed by San Diego State and Wyoming at 7.
