LAS VEGAS (Jan. 13, 2001) Opening MWC women's basketball play on the road this year was not going to be an easy task for any team. It proved extremely disappointing for the BYU team as they fell victim to UNLV in a disappointing 11-point 61-50 defeat, Saturday.

The second straight conference loss for the Cougars puts their record at 8-7, 0-2 on the year. UNLV improves to 11-3 and 1-1 in conference play.

BYU's road woes started early in the game, getting just six points off in a nine-minute span. In that same time, UNLV scored 15 points to give them a comfortable 13-point 31-18 advantage at the half.

"We're really struggling in our shooting right now and we're missing too many easy lay ups and wide open shots," said BYU coach Trent Shippen. "We improved some in the second half and played with more emotion and courage, so that's a good sign," added Shippen.

In the second half, the visiting Cougars continued to shoot poorly, getting down by as many as 16 points with just six minutes left in the game. But they battled back and cut into the lead to within eight, 56-48 with 2:20 left in the clock. Unfortunately, they could get no closer.

For BYU, Erin Thorn had 11 points and seven rebounds. Caroline Beus followed with her 10 points and five rebounds. As a team, BYU shot 35 percent from the field and 33 from behind the arc.

Junior guard Kinesha Davis led UNLV with 16 points, with 15 from Linda Frohlich and a team high eight rebounds. The Lady Rebels were able to get 17 points off of Cougar turnovers and shot 46 percent from the field.

The Cougars return home to host two conference games against Wyoming on Jan. 18 and Colorado State on Jan. 20. Both games are set for 7 p.m. tip offs.