Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
7-8 (1-3MWC)
UNLV
11-4 (3-1MWC)
Rams' Comeback Falls Short Against Rebels
1/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 18, 2006
The Colorado State University women's basketball team fell to 7-8 (1-3 MWC) on the season with a 67-62 loss to the UNLV Rebels (11-4, 3-1 MWC) Wednesday night at Moby Arena. Senior Forward Melissa Dennett was the only Ram player to score in double figures, dropping 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor. Dennett's scoring output tied a career high set on the road against UNLV in 2004. She also became only the 14th player in school history to eclipse the 1,000 point mark.
The Rams long distance shooting woes, which had plagued the team early in the conference season, seemed to disappear as the Colorado State connected on three treys in the first three minutes of the game to jump out to an 11-5 lead just three minutes into the contest. Sophomore Sara Hunter shot out of her slump, hitting her first two from long range and finishing with 9 points in the game. However, UNLV then began a 13-2 run of their own, gaining the lead for the first time in the ball game at the 12:14 mark, and extending the cushion to five points, 20-15, with 9 minutes remaining in the first half.
It was at that point that Dennett, who had been held scoreless through the first 10 minutes of the game, began her tear, scoring 11 straight points for the Rams between the 9:41 mark and the 4:19 mark as part of a larger 20-9 run to close out the half. The Rams took a 33-29 edge into the locker room as Dennett totalled 15 in the games' opening frame.
Momentum did not stay with the Rams coming out to start the second half. UNLV began the final stanza on a 14-4 run over the first five minutes of the half. During that stretch, UNLV senior Sheena Moore scored eight of her season-high 26 points.
The Rams continued to battle throughout the second half, cutting the UNLV lead to two points with a minute remaining in the game. However, the Rebels hit five of six free throws in the games final 36 seconds to walk away with a 67-62 victory.
Dennett carried the Rams once again down the stretch of the game, scoring eight of the teams' final 12 points. Moore did the same for the Rebels, recording six of the teams final nine points, and four-for-four from the free throw line in the final 23 seconds to seal the victory for UNLV.
The Rams won the rebounding battle by a 36-25 margin. However, the Colorado State defense allowed a season-worst 50 percent shooting from the Rebels, tying with the shooting outputs of Colorado and Duke during the non-conference schedule and the 60 percent shooting clip by UNLV in the second half was the second worst in a half this season behind the 61.3 percent shooting effort by Denver in the second half of that contest.
The Rams will look to bounce back in front of the home crowd at Moby Arena on Saturday, Jan. 21 against conference newcomer TCU. Tip-off for that game is slated for 2 p.m.
