Feb. 27, 2000
LAS VEGAS - UNLV and San Diego State recycled the script from the first meeting between the two teams this season as once again the home team ran out to a huge second half lead only to have the visitors rally before falling just short at the tape.
In the first game, it was the Lady Rebels that went away heart-broken in a two point loss. Saturday night it was the Aztecs' turn.
Freshman Jamey Cox poured in a team-high 16 points to lead three Aztecs in double figures, but it wasn't enough as SDSU (8-17, 3-9 Mtn. West) was knocked off by UNLV (14-11, 6-6 Mtn. West) 69-63 at the Thomas & Mack Center.
UNLV sophomore Linda Frohlich led all scorers with 28 points, including 19 in the first half. She also grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.
San Diego State trailed by as many as 21 points midway through the second half before going on a 22-2 run to close the game to 59-58 with 3:55 to play. The run was keyed by the Aztec defense, which held UNLV with out a bucket for 7:15. However, the Aztecs were never able to take the lead, as the Lady Rebels capped the wire-to-wire victory by outscoring SDSU 10-5 down the stretch.
"I can't say enough about how hard this team fought tonight," said SDSU head coach Barb Smith. "We struggled to find some rhythm, especially early on. But once we got our feet under us on defense it was a different ball game. We just came up a little short in the end."
After struggling from the field in the two team's first meeting, UNLV opened the rubber match on fire. The Lady Rebels, who shot just 39 percent in Cox Arena and were 0-17 from the field, connected on 63 percent of their first half shots, including 6-for-8 from beyond the arc and led 40-29 at intermission.
SDSU senior Mary Apiaif posted her 16th double digit scoring game of the season with 15 points. She also hauled in a team-high nine rebounds, just missing her 10th double-double of the season. Freshman Kacee Wheeler, who has scored in double figures in eight of the Aztecs' last nine games, finished with 11.
San Diego State closes out its 2000 regular season on the road next week at Wyoming and Colorado State.