Feb. 24, 2001
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Constance Jinks' hit an 18-foot jumper with three seconds to play to complete a huge second-half comeback for the Lady Rebels as UNLV foiled San Diego State's upset bid, defeating the Aztecs, 68-67, Saturday afternoon in front of 811 at the Thomas & Mack Center.
San Diego State, which was blown out by 41 points in the first meeting between the two teams at Cox Arena, played some of its best basketball of the season and led for all but the final three seconds, including holding a 57-39 lead at the 10-minute mark.
The Rebels, however, got themselves back into the game with a 16-2 run over the next five minutes, including eight points from Linda Frohlich, who led all scorers with 29 points.
UNLV finally tied the game at 64-64 with just over a minute to play, but SDSU's Sophia Sledge hit a lay-up in transition and sank one of two free throws to put the Aztecs back on top, 67-64.
A Frohlich put back on the subsequent possession pulled UNLV to within one. The Aztecs then turned the ball over on the ensuing inbound pass to set up Jinks' last-second heroics.
"I thought we played very well today, it was just a great comeback by a high-powered offense," said SDSU head coach Barb Smith. "We had them down 18 points and were playing great defense. But Constance Jinks and Linda Frohlich are great players. Jinks took us off the dribble a couple of times and really got them back in it."
Jinks finished with 26 points, including the game winner.
Sophomore Jamey Cox led the Aztecs with a season-high 24 points and junior Claire Swinbank added a career-best 20 for San Diego State (13-12, 5-7 MWC). Swinbank also led the Aztecs on the boards with a career-high eight rebounds.
Cox also dished out a game-high six assists and led the Aztecs to a 34-29 lead at intermission, canning five three-pointers enroute to 17 first-half points.
San Diego State shot a blistering 57 percent from the floor in the first half and 51 percent for the game, but the Aztecs continued their season-long struggle on the boards providing UNLV with a number of second-chance opportunities as the Lady Rebels gathered 40 rebounds, including 23 on the offensive end.
San Diego State closes out its regular season next week when the Aztecs travel to Colorado State and Wyoming before returning to Las Vegas for the 2001 Mountain West Women's Basketball Tournament, March 7-10.