Friday, March 13, 2009 | 9:43 p.m.
Dream Run Cut Short
After upsets in the first two rounds of the Mountain West Conference Tournament, the UNLV women's basketball team came up short in the semifinals, falling to San Diego State 71-63.
The UNLV women's basketball team's improbable run through the Mountain West Conference tournament came to a halt on Friday afternoon, when the seventh-seeded Lady Rebels were polished off by second-seeded San Diego State, 71-63, at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Kathy Olivier's first season at the helm at UNLV ended with a 14-18 record, but a positive stretch to head into her second season with.
"A great time to catch on fire," she said. "I thought we did a very good job against a very, very good basketball team.
"I thought our team just never said 'die.' I'm just glad that (athletic director) Mike Hamrick gave me this opportunity because that was a great run and I had a great time. I learned from five seniors all about the Mountain West. I just wish it could continue on, but we got our run cut short."
One of those seniors -- forward Shamela Hampton -- helped the Lady Rebels stay in it against the 23-6 Aztecs until the closing minutes, as UNLV trailed by only two with less than four minutes to play after falling behind at the half, 32-20.
Hampton finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds, while MWC Freshman of the Year Jamie Smith had nine points and 10 rebounds for the Rebels. India Chaney tallied 13.
In the end, SDSU's athleticism won out, as the lead it had built earlier was proven insurmountable. Jene Morris led the way with 27 points, while Paris Johnson had 12 points and nine rebounds to go with Jen Layton-Bailes' 14 points.
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