March 18, 2004
LAS VEGAS - UNLV forward Sherry McCracklin hit two free throws with 20 seconds left to break a 47-47 tie, and added another with six seconds left to lift UNLV to a thrilling 50-47 win over Arizona State in first round action of the Postseason Women's NIT on Thursday night from the Cox Pavilion. McCracklin finished the game with her 13th double-double of the year with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
UNLV completely dominated the boards, outrebounding the Sun Devils 41-20, including 26-10 on defensive rebounds, which offset 33 turnovers by the Lady Rebels. UNLV, who improves to 23-7 on the season, advances to the second round of the WNIT for the second time in school history, and will host Rice, a 59-52 winner over Arkansas State, on Sunday at 4 pm in the Cox. Arizona State finishes its season at 17-12.
Though the Lady Rebels led for the majority of the game, Arizona State never went away, and took the lead three times late in the second half, the last on Kylan Loney's layup with 1:40 left to make the score 47-45. That was also the final basket of the night for the Sun Devils. Sheena Moore tied the game on a jumper in the paint with 1:22 left. McCracklin grabbed the defensive rebound after an ASU miss on the next possession, and the offensive rebound on InFini Robinson's missed three-pointer. Fouled on the rebound, McCracklin sank both free throws for a 49-47 UNLV lead. After a Sun Devil miss, Moore was sent to the line, and missed the one-and-one, but McCracklin again grabbed the rebound and was fouled. She missed the first but made the second for the 50-47 Lady Rebel lead, and ASU's desperation shot from halfcourt was off the mark.
After a slow start in which just eight total points were scored in the first seven minutes, the Sun Devils took advantage of UNLV turnovers to grab a 15-11 lead on a three-pointer from Loney, the only one of the night for Arizona State. ASU still led 17-16 with 6:50 left in the first half, before a 10-3 Lady Rebel run to end the half gave UNLV a 26-19 halftime lead. The run was capped by McCracklin, who soared up to catch an inbounds pass in the paint with one second on the shot clock and lofted a shot that hit the rim four times before falling in at the halftime buzzer.
UNLV led by as much as nine in the second half before ASU climbed back into the game, tying the score at 33-33 with 13:31 left, and the game remained tight for the rest of the contest.
Joining McCracklin in double figures was RanDee Henry with 12 points and Moore with 10, as the Lady Rebels improved to 10-1 on the year when their "Big Three" all score in double figures. UNLV shot 45% (18-of-40) for the game, 73.7% (14-19) at the line, but were 0-of-7 from three-point range. Henry added six rebounds for the game, marking the second time this year Henry's and McCracklin's combined rebounds matched the opposing team's total.
Loney paced the Sun Devils with 13 points, though she was held to 4-of-18 from the floor. Carrie Buckner posted 10 points and four rebounds before fouling out, while Amy Denson added eight points. ASU shot 35.7% (20-56) from the floor, were 6-of-6 at the line, and 1-of-12 *8.3%) from three-point land.