UNLV roundup: Lady Rebels upended in regular-season finale
Tyra Whitehead had 12 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and three blocks to help lift San Jose State past UNLV 76-63 in the teams’ Mountain West women’s basketball regular-season finale Thursday at Cox Pavilion.
Rodjanae Wade had 23 points and 22 rebounds for the Lady Rebels (13-16, 9-9) in their second straight loss and sixth in seven games. Fieme’a Hafoka had 16 points to lead five double-figure scorers for the Spartans (18-11, 12-6).
Wade, who had 13 offensive rebounds, had the first game of 20 points and 20 rebounds for UNLV in 16 years.
Ayzhiah Basallo had 13 points and four assists and Hafoka six rebounds and three steals for San Jose State, which won its third straight.
LaTecia Smith had 10 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists for the Lady Rebels, who led 20-8 after one quarter but trailed 33-29 at intermission. The Spartans opened the second half with a 10-0 run and didn’t trail again.
Anna Blount scored eight points for UNLV, which held a 50-41 edge in rebounds but couldn’t overcome its 31.1-percent shooting. San Jose State shot 42.6 percent.
The Lady Rebels and Spartans, seeded fifth and fourth, respectively, for next week’s Mountain West tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center, will square off at 2:30 p.m. Monday in a quarterfinal.
Sunday’s three first-round matchups will pit No. 8 seed UNR (14-15, 7-11) against No. 9 seed New Mexico (15-16, 6-12) at 2 p.m., No. 7 seed Air Force (9-20, 7-11) against No. 10 seed Colorado State (12-17, 6-12) at 4:30 p.m. and No. 6 seed San Diego State (14-16, 9-9) against No. 11 seed Utah State (7-22, 2-16) at 7 p.m.
Top-seeded Fresno State (23-6, 16-2) will face the UNR-New Mexico winner at noon Monday in a quarterfinal. Monday’s other two quarterfinals will pit No. 2 seed Boise State (21-9, 13-5) against the Air Force-Colorado State winner at 6 p.m. and No. 3 seed Wyoming (16-11, 12-6) against the San Diego State-Utah State winner at 8:30 p.m.
The semifinals are set for 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, with the title game at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
SWIMMING AND DIVING
At Houston, a major city water main break prompted the Western Athletic Conference to cancel Thursday’s evening session of the league championships and alter Friday’s schedule in the four-day event.
Because of the water issue, the WAC allowed most of the morning’s individual events to stand as final results.
As such, freshman Christopher Mykkanen placed first in the 500-yard freestyle in 4 minutes, 21.86 seconds — one of five top-eight finishes for the Rebels.
In the 200 individual medley, freshman Ogi Maric was second in 1:46.72 and sophomore Hayden Cornellison eighth (1:48.77).
Senior Hayden Hemmens was fourth in the 500 freestyle (4:23.41) and junior Richard Szilagyi fourth in the 50 freestyle (20.02 seconds).
TRACK AND FIELD
At Albuquerque, N.M., the Rebels placed sixth in the distance medley relay in 11 minutes, 58.69 seconds to open the three-day, 10-team Mountain West Indoor Championships.