Lady Rebels overcome sloppy 4th quarter to beat UNR

But in the fourth quarter, sloppy play let UNR back into the game. And a contest that had all the makings of a blowout wound up being close, with the Lady Rebels winning 77-75 on Wednesday night at Cox Pavilion.

“We got the win, so we’re thankful for that, but to be honest, we didn’t play good basketball,” coach Kathy Olivier said. “That fourth quarter could have gone any way. It could have gone to either team so we’ve got to play better for four quarters.”

The Lady Rebels (14-8, 9-2 Mountain West) allowed 37 points in the final quarter. Their lead was reduced to one point in the final seconds before Katie Powell hit a free throw and a UNR’s desperation shot at the buzzer fell short.

“I think we definitely got a little too lax. We still stayed poised but we had too many turnovers and we just let them back into the game and we can’t let that happen,” senior guard Brooke Johnson said.

The Lady Rebels made 21 turnovers and allowed UNR 19 offensive rebounds. They also committed 25 fouls. UNR (11-11, 4-7 MW) made 21 of 28 free throws.

“We were rushing offensively and defensively,” Olivier said. “I thought we were getting sloppy and fouling a lot.”

The Lady Rebels never trailed and had a sizable lead most of the way — one that reached 23 points in the third quarter.

Johnson led the Lady Rebels with 23 points, while Katie Powell and Nikki Wheatley chipped in 19 each. Paris Strawther added 10 points.

UNLV won for the ninth time in 10 games and stayed atop the Mountain West.

But after the game, it was the fourth quarter that left a bitter taste.

“I think we definitely play well for three quarters in a game but we’re still struggling with one quarter, whether it’s the first quarter, the second or the fourth,” Johnson said. “We can’t let that happen.

”We always talk about it, and we need to make a change.”

Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BetsyHelfand on Twitter.