The Cowgirls would have one of their worst shooting nights from beyond the arc all season as they’d fall to the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels in a matchup for the top spot of the Mountain West league standings.
Despite their woes from beyond the arc, where they’d shoot 10.5% and only make two threes all night, the Cowgirls had an opportunity to take a lead or tie late as they were within three with a minute and a half left in the contest.
The loss will only drop the Cowgirls to second place in the Mountain West, a spot they now share with New Mexico. The loss also snapped a three game winning streak by the Cowgirls.
Mellema would open the scoring for the Cowgirls, knocking down a nice mid-range jumper early. The Rebels would answer that, as both teams would trade buckets early in the contest until MicKinley Dickerson would come off the bench and cash in the first three of the night for the Cowgirls as they held an early 11-7 lead. The Rebels would battle back to tie the contest, as Malene Pederson and Marta Savic would score at the end of the first quarter to keep things knotted up at 15-15.
The second half would continue the back and forth affair between both teams, as Pederson would continue to roll offensively in the second quarter. The Rebels were catching fire as well, though, as they’d knock down a three to take a 20-17 lead midway through the second quarter. The Cowgirls and Pederson would fight back to tie it at 21 a piece, but the Rebels would maintain their lead and push it out to 27-22 late in the second quarter. Mellema would finish off a nice and-one play towards the end of the quarter, though, as the Cowgirls were able to stay within a point at halftime at 27-26.
The Rebels would come out hot in the third quarter, knocking down a pair of threes. Both Pederson and Tess Barnes would score down low, but they couldn’t keep pace with the Rebels as they jumped out to a 37-30 lead midway through the third quarter. Dickerson and Savic would score six straight for the Cowgirls to bring it within a point, but they couldn’t retake the lead as the Rebels would score again to make it 40-36 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Cowgirls would struggle offensively to start the fourth quarter, as they’d have a seven minute scoring drought extending from the third quarter and the Rebels would take their largest lead of the night at 48-36. Pederson would finally get the Cowgirls on the board with a pair of free throws midway through the quarter. This would spark the Cowgirl offense, as Allyson Fertig would begin to take over and Barnes would knock down a triple to make it a three point game at 50-47. The Cowgirls would battle late down the stretch but the Rebels wouldn’t give up their lead and hold on to win 58-51.
The Cowgirls were led offensively by three players in double figures, as Mellema and Pederson both had 12 and Dickerson chipped in 10 off the bench. Fertig led the Cowgirls on the glass with 8 rebounds, but only notched 6 points.
The Cowgirls next outing comes at home versus Nevada, the game set to tip off at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
