TCU’s second-half surge sinks Lady Rebels

UNLV knocked Texas Christian out of last season's Mountain West Conference Tournament, and the Lady Rebels appeared poised Saturday to score another big upset over the same team.

But then the second half began.

The Lady Rebels quickly gave away their seven-point halftime lead, allowing No. 23 TCU to go on a 22-point run and cruise to an 81-61 victory at Cox Pavilion.

"We can't be content playing 20 minutes of basketball," UNLV coach Kathy Olivier said. "We'd love more leadership on the floor when things don't go our way. When things don't go our way, we get a little down.

"We didn't even know what hit us. We were so much on our heels that we couldn't do anything right."

UNLV (8-12, 1-5 MWC) couldn't have played much better in the first half, taking a 35-27 lead with 14 seconds left. But beginning with a free throw with 2.6 seconds remaining, the Lady Frogs (14-4, 4-1) went on their tear to take 49-35 lead.

Lady Rebels guard Mia Bell's driving layup with 12:15 left finally end the scoring drought that lasted 7:59.

"It's pretty frustrating for any team that's playing if you can't get your mojo back in the first five minutes," said UNLV guard India Chaney, who scored 13 points.

UNLV couldn't contend with TCU's stepped-up defensive aggressiveness from its 2-3 zone that caused Olivier to say it appeared the Lady Frogs had six or seven players on the court.

"We weren't really ready to execute our zone offense," said forward Jamie Smith, who led UNLV with 15 points and 13 rebounds, her sixth double-double this season and 19th of her two-year career.

This game provided a measure of revenge for TCU, which was beaten 84-75 by the lower-seeded Lady Rebels in the quarterfinals of last year's league tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Led by guard Emily Carter's 19 points, four players scored in double figures for the Lady Frogs on Saturday.

TCU's balanced attack extended UNLV's skid to six losses in seven games, with a trip to Air Force on Tuesday.

"We're changing the face of this program," Olivier said of her young team. "We're not going to be able to do that overnight. Do I want to do it overnight? Heck, yes. Am I frustrated? Heck, yes.

"The impressive part is that they're staying together, and they're coming to practice, and they work their butts off every day. That's hard to do when you're not being successful."

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914.