Feb. 15, 2003
LAS VEGAS - UNLV's Constance Jinks scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Lady Rebels past the San Diego State women's basketball team, 81-61, in Mountain West Conference action Saturday at Cox Pavilion. With the loss, SDSU fell to 8-12 overall and 2-6 in MWC play, while UNLV improved to 14-7 and 5-3 in conference action.
Aztec senior guard Jamey Cox (Waterloo, Iowa) led the team in scoring for the ninth time this season, recording 16 points, which included four three-pointers. Freshman forward Ashlee Dunlap (Los Angeles, Calif.) tallied double-figures in her fifth straight game, putting up 14 points and nine boards to just miss her MWC-leading ninth double-double of the season before fouling out with a little over three minutes remaining. Senior Tynisha King (Moreno Valley, Calif.) was the third SDSU player to record double-digits with a career best 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting from the field.
The first half went back and forth through the first nine minutes as the two teams traded leads and were tied five times each. At the 9:37 mark, Jinks hit a free throw to give her team a 18-17 advantage. Five minutes later, UNLV built its lead up to double-figures as a three-point field goal by Infini Robinson sparked a 9-2 Lady Rebel run to go up at the half by 14 points, 38-24.
Out of the locker room, the Aztecs appeared to get a lift on offense, scoring nine of the first 11 points to get to within seven points at 40-33, their smallest deficit since the 4:30 mark of the first half. Just as SDSU got itself back into the game, the Lady Rebels went on another scoring run, jumping out to a lead as great as 20 points twice, including at the game's conclusion, 81-61.
Besides Jinks, four other UNLV players also reached double-figures in scoring including Talisha Mitchell (13 pts.), Sheena Moore (12 points), Sherry McCracklin (11 points), Robinson (10 pts) and. The Lady Rebels shot 47.5 percent from the field and added 13 steals on defense, while SDSU committed 20 turnovers to UNLV's 11.
The Aztecs stay on the road for their next two Mountain West Conference games at conference-leading Utah (Feb. 20) and Brigham Young (Feb. 22) next week.