Ray’s Clutch Plays Help Women Beat No. 5 UNLV

Senior center Genia Miller scored 31 points and junior guard Joey Ray scored a career-high 25 points--many of them in the clutch--to help the Cal State Fullerton women’s team beat fifth-ranked Nevada Las Vegas, 86-80, Saturday night in Titan Gym.

Junior forward Claudette Jackson, who scored 17 points, made 15 of 16 free throws, pulled down 10 rebounds and had six assists for Fullerton before fouling out with 1:01 remaining.

To offset the Rebels’ 6-foot-6 center Merlelynn Lange, who had 32 points, Ray made 10 of 13 shots from the field, Miller had 12 rebounds and four blocked shots, freshman guard Cheryl Hightower had nine points and junior point guard Michelle Hennessey had eight assists.

The victory marked the first time in Maryalyce Jeremiah’s six years as Fullerton coach that the Titans (11-4, 4-2 in Big West Conference) have defeated the Rebels (14-2, 5-1). Fullerton had lost 13 consecutive games to UNLV since a 75-66 victory over the Rebels during the 1982-83 season.

“The thing I’m so happy about is we were ahead the whole game, and UNLV played the whole game like it was going to win,” Jeremiah said. “But we made free throws in the end, Genia didn’t foul out--we did all the things we had to do to win.”

The Titans took a 12-point halftime lead, the last three points coming on Ray’s buzzer-beater from the right corner.

And every time the Rebels made a run at Fullerton in the second half, Ray killed their momentum.

UNLV scored six consecutive points early in the second half and could have cut the Titans’ lead to four, but Ray stole a pass and scored on a fast-break basket. After the Rebels cut the lead to 66-65 later in the half, Ray made a three-pointer to make it 69-65 with 6:14 to go.

UNLV trailed by one when Ray made a jumper from the right corner with 1:46 left to make it 79-76, Fullerton. She added two free throws with 27 seconds left to help secure the victory.

“They were just leaving me open, so I had to take the shots,” said Ray, who entered the game with a 10.9-point average. “If they come out to cover me inside, I would have just dumped it off to Genia.”

Miller had another outstanding game, making 14 of 24 shots. She picked up her third foul with 2:44 left in the first half and her fourth with 4:30 remaining, but still managed to block two of Lange’s shots in the second half without fouling out.

“This was a great win for these kids, beating someone in the top 10,” Jeremiah said. “Down the road, if it comes close (during NCAA tournament selection time), this game is going to help us.”