Lady Rebels knock off Kansas State

Just two nights after getting drubbed by Big Ten foe Northwestern, the UNLV women's basketball team turned the tables on another power conference squad by knocking off Kansas State 44-38 on Tuesday night at Cox Pavilion.

The Lady Rebels (10-3) and Wildcats (8-3) played stifling defense in the BTI Invitational finale, as both teams shot under 29 percent. UNLV outrebounded its Big 12 opponent 44-38 to gain a 15-4 advantage in second-chance points.

"We knew it would be a defensive battle," UNLV coach Kathy Olivier said. "I'm proud of our team's overall effort. We're all stepping up at different times. It was a total team effort."

Markiell Styles led UNLV with 13 points, and Jamie Smith had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

The Lady Rebels led 23-16 at halftime and pushed the margin to 32-21 in the second half before the Wildcats went on a 13-0 run to go up 34-32.

But Kelli Thompson hit a 3-pointer to put UNLV back up, and Mia Bell's 3-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer made it 40-36 with 1:10 remaining.

UNLV beat North Dakota State on Monday to finish 2-1 in the tournament.