Late layup sinks Lady Rebels in own tournament

UNLV apparently didn’t learn from its last-second loss to Loyola Marymount on Nov. 11.

The women’s basketball team suffered the same outcome Saturday in a 68-65 defeat against Oregon State in the consolation game of the Lady Rebel Shootout at the Thomas & Mack Center.

As she did in UNLV’s 61-59 loss to Loyola Marymount, Sequoia Holmes tied the game in the final seconds against Oregon State, driving for a layup with four seconds remaining to knot the score at 65.

The Lions won on Nov. 11 when Amanda DeCoud drove the length of the court for a game-winning layup over UNLV guard Brittany Halberg as the buzzer sounded.

The Beavers netted their game-winning points Saturday when Cedes Fox-Griffin caught a full-court baseball pass from Tiffany Ducker, drove for a layup over Halberg and sank her free throw to complete a 3-point play and give Oregon State a 68-65 lead with 2.7 seconds left.

Holmes, who poured in a career-high 35 points and almost single-handedly won the game for the Lady Rebels, nearly tied it again with a half-court heave at the buzzer, but the ball went in and out as time expired.

“We’ve just got to know how to finish games off,” said Holmes, who scored nine of UNLV’s last 13 points.

Holmes made 16 of 26 shots and also led the Lady Rebels with seven rebounds and four assists. But she didn’t get much help from her teammates as she was the only UNLV player to score in double figures.

Oregon State (3-1) placed four players in double figures. Ashley Allen led the way with 19 points, Ducker had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Fox-Griffin and Talisa Rhea scored 10 apiece.

Dominique Harris and Halberg scored eight points apiece and Shamela Hampton six. But Holmes, the leading scorer in the Mountain West Conference, is the only UNLV player who can create her own shot on a consistent basis.

To Holmes’ credit, she refuses to express frustration or place blame on her teammates.

“I’m just focused on getting the next win,” she said. “We’ve got to come out and play as hard as we can every time and hopefully everything will come together for us.”

UNLV (1-4) is off to its worst start since the 1997-98 season, when it started 0-10.

On Saturday, the Lady Rebels fell behind big in the first half for the second straight day, trailing 30-12 before embarking on a 14-3 run to pull within 33-26 at halftime.

UNLV also scored the first five points of the second half to make it a 33-31 game, and twice the Lady Rebels pulled within a point.

But besides an early 4-2 edge, they never led.

“We have to know how to start games and come out really intense,” said Holmes, who ignited UNLV’s comeback from a 12-point deficit with 4:43 left.

Montana (3-2) beat Richmond (3-4) 86-81 in the championship game.