by Andre van der Merwe
Daily Lobo
LAS VEGAS - The last time the Lobos played UNLV, the Runnin' Rebels thrashed UNM's defense for 70 points.
However, in Wednesday's game, the Lobo defense bottled up the Rebel offense early en route to an 80-52 win.
UNM head coach Don Flanagan said it was the Lobos' top-tier defense that helped them get to the Mountain West Conference semifinals.
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"Defense has always been important to us," he said. "We're one of the top teams, actually, in the nation pointwise."
In their previous meeting with the Rebels, that same stingy Lobo defense gave up 38 second-half points, resulting in a double-digit loss.
This time, the Lobos more than doubled the Rebels' points in the first half, while holding them to just seven field goals. UNLV only had two field-goal attempts in the first five minutes and didn't score a field goal until there was 10:17 left in the half.
UNM held UNLV scoreless for more than seven minutes to start the game and went into the locker room with a
40-18 lead.
UNLV came out more aggressive in the second half, but UNM held the Rebels without a field goal for nearly five minutes in the midst of a 17-1 run.
The defense forced UNLV into 23 turnovers, which UNM converted into 30 points.
Junior guard Brandi Kimble was a big contributor to the concrete Lobo defense, adding seven steals of the team's 14.
Kimble's responsibility for the game was stopping UNLV leading scorer Sequoia Holmes, who had scored 40 points in two games this season against UNM.
Holmes said Kimble's tough defense made it hard for her to get into a rhythm.
"Brandi Kimble is a good defender," she said. "It's hard to get open when you've got somebody face-guarding you. I feel like if you got somebody at that athleticism, it's going to bother you somewhat. She did a good job."
Kimble held Holmes to just six points on 2-of-11 shooting. Flanagan said Kimble's defense was one of the keys to
victory.
"Brandi Kimble did a great job defending Sequoia Holmes," he said. "Took her out of the game, and that definitely was one of the reasons why we were
successful."
The Lobos also picked up four blocks and 21 defensive rebounds to neutralize the Rebels' offense.
Senior Katie Montgomery said the Lobos have to keep communicating on defense if they want to grab the automatic NCAA Tournament bid that comes with winning the MWC Tournament.
"Defensively, I thought we helped each other really well," she said. "Defense has been strong for us all season. If we can play that kind of defense, I think we can win some games."
