LAS -- A tough comeback almost succeeded, but the Cougars fell to UNLV in the first round of the Mountain West Conference championship tournament 66-58 in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
“I want to give UNLV a lot of credit,” said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. “They came out early and were crisp attacking the basket. We got ourselves in a hole but I’m proud of my team for coming back, not just once but several times.”
UNLV scored first and led the entire game, though the Cougars would keep it close throughout the first twenty minutes. BYU cut the Rebel lead to two, 19-17, at the 8:27 mark of the first half, but went into halftime trailing 31-26.
The Rebels slowly stretched their lead in the second half, going up by as many as 16 points. BYU would cut the lead to four, 61-57 with just over a minute left on a Coriann Wood free-throw, but was not able to catch UNLV.
“We came back and had a chance to win this game,” said Judkins. “We’ve done a great job fighting back and showing a lot of character but we haven’t been able to finish. I’m proud of my team and their effort.”
Rebels Shamela Hampton and Jamie Smith each had a game-high 18 points. Shawnee Slade led BYU with 15 points. Smith also had 15 rebounds to lead all players. Cassie King had seven boards, a team-high for the Cougars. Stephanie Buhler tied a career-high with nine points on 3-of-8 eight shooting from behind the three-point arc.
Slade was the only Cougar in double-figures. Jazmine Foreman had four steals for BYU.
BYU outscored UNLV in the paint 22-10. The Rebels out-rebounded the Cougars 40-31.
Official Basketball Box Score
UNLV vs Brigham Young
03/10/09 7:00 PM at Las Vegas, Nev. (Thomas and Mack Center)
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VISITORS: UNLV 13-17
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
11 SMITH, Jamie........ f 4-9 3-6 7-8 8 7 15 3 18 2 2 1 1 40
24 HAMPTON, Shamela.... c 4-10 0-0 10-12 1 6 7 3 18 1 4 0 1 33
05 HALBERG, Brittany... g 1-5 1-4 0-0 1 3 4 2 3 3 3 0 1 31
15 HELMS, Erica........ g 4-11 2-6 4-6 0 0 0 1 14 3 2 0 5 35
32 CHANEY, India....... g 4-10 1-2 1-1 0 4 4 2 10 2 1 0 1 25
10 HOLIDAY, Allison.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 8
25 JUPITER, Raquel..... 0-2 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 8
33 OBERG, Shannon...... 1-5 1-4 0-0 2 2 4 2 3 0 1 0 0 20
TEAM................ 1 3 4 2
Totals.............. 18-53 8-22 22-27 15 25 40 14 66 12 17 1 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-33 36.4% 2nd Half: 6-20 30.0% Game: 34.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-11 27.3% 2nd Half: 5-11 45.5% Game: 36.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-5 80.0% 2nd Half: 18-22 81.8% Game: 81.5% 4
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HOME TEAM: Brigham Young 18-11
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
45 MOEAKI, Keilani..... f 2-4 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 0 4 0 1 0 0 19
54 KING, Cassie........ c 2-9 0-0 3-4 1 6 7 3 7 0 0 1 0 26
03 FOREMAN, Jazmine.... g 2-5 1-3 2-3 0 1 1 5 7 4 6 0 4 31
22 NIELSON, Mindy...... g 2-5 0-2 0-0 0 6 6 0 4 1 5 1 2 32
32 SLADE, Shawnee...... g 6-13 1-3 2-2 2 1 3 4 15 3 0 1 1 34
01 JACKSON, Jenteal.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
14 HOSTETTER, Sarah R.. 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7
21 BUHLER, Stephanie... 3-9 3-8 0-0 0 1 1 0 9 0 2 0 1 13
23 WOOD, Coriann....... 2-6 1-4 4-4 1 1 2 4 9 2 2 2 2 21
35 RILEY, Kristen...... 1-2 0-1 1-2 2 3 5 3 3 1 0 1 0 14
TEAM................ 1 1 2
Totals.............. 20-54 6-22 12-15 10 21 31 20 58 11 16 6 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-24 45.8% 2nd Half: 9-30 30.0% Game: 37.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-9 33.3% 2nd Half: 3-13 23.1% Game: 27.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 11-13 84.6% Game: 80.0% 2
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Officials: Shelly Nakazone, Michael Price, Clarke Stevens
Technical fouls: UNLV-None. Brigham Young-None.
Attendance: 4113
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
UNLV.......................... 31 35 - 66
Brigham Young................. 26 32 - 58
Points in the paint-UNLV 10,BY 22. Points off turnovers-UNLV 19,BY 16.
2nd chance points-UNLV 14,BY 9. Fast break points-UNLV 0,BY 2.
Bench points-UNLV 3,BY 21. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-UNLV 2nd-02:22, BY 2nd-04:33.
Largest lead-UNLV by 16 2nd-10:00, BY None.