CEDAR CITY, Utah - Nov. 13 - Southern Utah women's basketball came out of the gate quickly, building a 9-0 lead in the first half, but it was a huge second-half run by UNLV that spelled defeat on Friday night as the T-Birds suffered a 61-43 loss to the Lady Rebels. The setback drops SUU to 0-1 while UNLV begins the year 1-0.
Stephanie Sampson capped the quick start for the Thunderbirds as her layup four minutes into the game gave the home team the 9-0 lead. UNLV answered with an 11-0 run of its own as the Rebels took their first lead of the game, 11-9 with 9:28 on the clock. The lead then changed hands twice and was deadlocked on four other occasions down the stretch. UNLV's Markiell Styles' layup with 23 seconds in the first half gave the Rebels a small two-point advantage of 25-23 going into the intermission.
UNLV continued to build the lead as the second half opened, building an advantage of 11 (38-27) with 12:34 showing on the clock. It was then that the Thunderbirds began to chip away at the lead, putting together a 10-2 run capped by one of three field goals by Chanel Thorley over the stretch. The Rebels held tough and weathered the storm and answered with a 19-1 run over the next seven minutes to put the game away. Jamie Sagers' bucket with just over a minute in the game proved to be the final points of the night as UNLV captured the 61-43 victory when the final whistle blew.
"I think we just ran out of steam tonight," head coach JR Payne said after the game. "We didn't have a ton of players that could play tonight, but I'm proud of the effort of those that did."
Southern Utah only had a total of nine players available for the game as the Thunderbirds have suffered some early-season injuries already during the 2009-10 campaign.
Thorley led the T-Birds in both points and rebounds as the true freshman recorded 12 points and eight boards during the night. UNLV had four players in double figures led by Sandrine Nzeukou with 13, followed by Styles (12), Kelli Thompson (12) and Erica Helms with ten.
Southern Utah will take its first road trip of the season next week when the Thunderbirds play at Pacific and Weber State in a pair of midweek games. Tip-off on Tuesday in Stockton, Calif. is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. (PT) with game time in Ogden on Thursday set for Noon.
