LAS VEGAS, Nev. - No. 9 Utah State women's basketball (11-19) lost 82-69 to top-seeded UNLV (24-6) in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Women's Basketball Championships on Monday. 

The Aggies were led by junior guard/forward Adryana Quezada with 26 points. Senior guard/forward E'Lease Stafford nearly finished the game with a double-double after recording 13 points and eight rebounds. 

Utah State and UNLV had a tight first quarter battle. The Aggies led by as many as seven twice in the opening minutes of the game as a Stafford jumper gave USU an 11-4 lead with 4:34 to go. An 11-2 UNLV run gave the Lady Rebels the 15-13 lead with 1:35 to play. After some back and forth, UNLV held a 19-18 edge at the end of the stanza. 

The second quarter was a different story as the Lady Rebels outscored the Aggies 19-9 in the period to lead 38-27 at the half.

USU and UNLV each scored 21 points in the third quarter as the Lady Rebels led 59-48 at the end of the period. The Aggies were able to get within six at 42-36 with 7:22 on the clock following a couple of buckets in the paint from Quezada and Stafford to go along with a Stafford triple. The Lady Rebels pushed their lead out to 57-40, but Utah State closed out the stanza with an 8-2 run to trim the UNLV advantage to 59-48 heading into the fourth. 

A 3-pointer from junior guard Shyla Latone and a Quezada layup in the opening minute of the fourth trimmed the Lady Rebel lead to 59-53. UNLV turned around with a 9-0 run to hold the 68-53 advantage with 7:02 remaining. The Lady Rebels maintained the double-digit lead for the remainder of the game as UNLV won 82-69.

USU finished the game shooting 37.7 percent (26-of-69) from the field, 26.7 percent (8-of-30) from behind the 3-point line and 81.8 percent (9-of-11) at the free throw line. UNLV shot 47.8 percent (33-of-69) from the floor, 35.7 percent (5-of-14) from behind the arc and 73.3 percent (11-of-15) at the free throw line. 

Fans can follow USU women's basketball on Twitter, @USUWBasketball, on Instagram, @USUWBasketball, as well as on Facebook, at /USUWBB. Aggie fans can also follow Utah State Athletics on Twitter, @USUAthletics, on Instagram, @USUAthletics and on Facebook at /USUAthletics.

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