VÉRIN, THOMPSON CARRY UNLV WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PAST BOISE STATE 70-60
Lady Rebels clinch fourth seed in next week’s Mountain West Tournament with the
victory
Réjane Vérin and Kelli Thompson combined for 53 points to lead UNLV to a 70-60 road win at Boise State 70-60 on Wednesday night in Mountain West women’s basketball action from Taco Bell Arena. With the win, the Lady Rebels have clinched the fourth seed in next week’s Reese’s Mountain West Championships, as they improved to 8-7 in league play to remain alone in fourth place. UNLV is 12-17 on the year overall, while the Broncos dropped to 11-17, 4-11 in the MW.
Vérin not only tied her career-high with 26 points in the win, she also set a new Mountain West freshman record with 19 rebounds on the night. That broke the previous record of 18, set by San Diego State’s Ashlee Dunlap on Dec. 19, 2002 against American. Thompson meanwhile posted a game-high 27 points to move herself into third place all-time at UNLV in career scoring with 1,822 points, passing Constance Jinks (1999-2003).
Thompson also was the key behind UNLV’s winning run late in the second half. The Lady Rebels had led for the majority of the night, but found themselves trailing by four, after a 6-0 run by the Broncos made the score 51-47 with 7:33 to play. BSU was then held scoreless for the next 4:33, while Thompson scored eight unanswered points that started an 11-0 UNLV run. An offensive rebound and put-back by Vérin capped the run, giving UNLV a 58-51 edge with 3:15 to play.
Boise State scored the next five points, closing to within 58-55 on a free throw from Brandi Henton. UNLV closed out the game with a 7-0 run, and would hit six of eight at the line in the final 81 seconds to claim the 10-point win.
In a low scoring first half, the lead changed hands five times while there were four ties. Boise State took its largest lead of the first half at the 5:14 mark on a free throw by Lexie Der for a 17-14 edge. UNLV then closed out the half with a 12-4 run, which included six points from Vérin. Her layup with 33 seconds left put UNLV up 26-19, before Miquelle Askew knocked down a jumper for BSU to make it a 26-21 game at the half.
After the teams traded baskets to open the second half, the Broncos went on a 15-4 run, taking a 38-32 lead on a three-point from Henton with 15:06 to play in the game. The lead was at six at 41-35, but UNLV came back to tie the game three more times before the game-changing 11-0 run in the final minutes.
UNLV finished the day shooting 35.1% (20-of-57) from the floor, was 5-of-14 for 35.7% from behind the arc, and made 25-of-32 at the free throw line for 78.1%. UNLV held a 50-44 rebounding edge as well.
Lenhardt finished with 18 points on her Senior Night to lead the Broncos. Rosalie Cutri added 14, while Henton posted 11 and Der 10 points. BSU shot 31% (22-of-71) from the floor, was 3-of-22 from three-point range for 13.6%, and 13-of-19 at the line for 68.4%.
UNLV closes out the regular season with a second straight road game, on Saturday at 2 pm at Fresno State.