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(December 7, 2007) –
UC Riverside used great defense to beat UNLV 61-49 at the
Student Rec Center Friday night. Senior forward Kemie Nkele
led the way with her fourth consecutive double-double effort
with a game-high 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for
the Highlanders who win their second straight to improve to
2-5 on the season.
The UCR defense forced
22 turnovers and held the Lady Rebels (2-6) to a opposing
team season-low 34% (17-49) shooting on the night. Sophomore
guard Brittany Waddell came off the bench to score 13 points
and junior forward Roney Friend added seven points and eight
rebounds.
UCR produced their best
defensive effort of the season, holding the Lady Rebels scoreless
through the first eight minutes of the ball game, forcing
UNLV to miss their first seven shots. A Lady Rebel free-throw
at the 11:16 mark put them on the board to end a 14-0 UCR
run that started the game. UNLV had a tough first half, shooting
5-for-20 (25.0 %) but did chip away late to cut the UCR lead
to 28-16 at the break.
UCR had their own struggles
from the floor however, shooting 19-for-51 (37.3%) on the
night but used a 10-24 (41.7%) second half effort to hold
their lead throughout most of the game. The Lady Rebels cut
it to 39-31 just past the nine-minute mark but would get no
closer as Riverside produced a 14-4 run over the next six
minutes and opened up a 54-35 lead. The Highlander bench entered
the game in the final minutes and withstood a late UNLV run
to preserve the victory.
UCR finished the night
20-of-33 (60.6%) from the line including a 6-for-7 effort
from Nkele and junior Chanel Foster finished 4-for-4. With
all of the missed shots by both teams, there were a lot of
rebounds in the game and second chance points. The Highlanders
won the battle on the boards 41-37 and played solid “in-your-face”
defense throughout the night, giving up very few uncontested
shots.
UCR hosts Nevada at 2:00
p.m. Sunday at the Student Rec Center before taking a week
off to focus on finals.
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