LADY REBELS OUST BYU IN MWC TOURNEY OPENER

UNLV finished the job the third time. The Lady Rebels, who lost two regular-season heartbreakers to Brigham Young, held on to win 66-58 Tuesday in a Mountain West Conference Tournament first-round game at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"We said, ‘We hope we play them again,’" UNLV coach Kathy Olivier said. "Our wish came true. We really stepped up to the plate with a great deal of intensity and a great deal of focus. It was a total team effort."

Jamie Smith had 18 points and 15 rebounds for the Lady Rebels. She came up with the game’s biggest plays while UNLV clung to a 58-55 lead. Smith grabbed a defensive rebound on one end and on the other side knocked down a 3-pointer with 2:20 left.

"Kind of knocked the wind out of us," said Shawnee Slade, who led BYU with 15 points.

Smith, the Mountain West Freshman of the Year, also grabbed eight offensive rebounds.

"I wish she was a senior," Cougars coach Jeff Judkins said.

"I’m sure I’ll remind my players (next season) of boxing her out, not letting her getting offensive rebounds. I told them that was the key to the game was to not let her get eight or nine (offensive) rebounds. She did it."

Shamela Hampton also scored 18 points and had seven rebounds. Erica Helms added 14 points and India Chaney 10.
No. 7 seed UNLV (13-17) plays No. 3 Texas Christian (20-9) in a quarterfinal game at 7 p.m. Wednesday.