Lady Rebels knock off Kansas State
December 21, 2011 - 2:02 am
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.