Elohim torches former team as Lady Rebels handle the Bulldogs

Ten full days off for the Christmas break is a thing of the past now as UNLV returned to the court and returned to its winning ways.

The program capped off a perfect 2-0 homestand after beating Fresno State, 85-59, Wednesday, Dec. 31 from The Pavilion. The Lady Rebels are now 6-1 at home this year with four straight wins on campus.

“I thought we all really needed that Christmas break,” head coach Lindy La Rocque said. “It felt like our team came back rested and rejuvenated, we had some really good practices.”

From 2021-2024, the program went 15-4 in the month of December. Wednesday’s win confirms the team will end this month with a 4-2 record to run the last two seasons’ totals to 7-4 in the final month of the year.

“Non-conference, we did it by design to make it harder,” La Rocque said. “And of course, we wanted to be more successful than we were but you also have to trust the process. Those hard games were shaping who we want to be and how we want to play in conference play.”

UNLV now has a three-game win streak with all victories coming in Mountain West play. In doing so, the team is now tied with Colorado State atop the conference with San Diego State a half-game behind and a 1 p.m. game set for Wednesday as well.

Overall, the Lady Rebels are 8-5 on the season and will get ready for a one-off road contest against the Air Force Falcons. Tip-off is set for 12 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 3 from Colorado.

“Right now, we’re not really looking in the rear view mirror too much,” La Rocque said. “They can know and we can feel without us talking about [the first half of the schedule]. They’re smart kids and they’re smarter probably than we give them credit for.”

It was a sloppy start for both teams in a physical matchup that saw both teams commit five turnovers apiece in the opening 10 minutes.

By the second quarter, UNLV had it figured out. It went on an 8-0 run while holding Fresno State scoreless for more than three minutes. That frustrated first-year Bulldogs head coach Ryan McCarthy who was assessed a technical foul.

The fiery coach known for his defensive principles did coach his team to force the home team into 13 turnovers while converting them into 14 points. Fresno State also snatched eight steals and two blocks despite the loss.

“Seemed like a slow start,” La Rocque said. “He does a really good job over there and did some defensive things that were hard for us to prepare for because it’s not how we play. I thought once we settled in in the second quarter, we kind of got rolling.”

Battling through the defense, the Lady Rebels took a 14-point lead into halftime after closing the first half with six straight makes from the field. Things swelled in the third quarter as another long run set the Bulldogs back even further.

UNLV went on a 13-0 run on five straight field goals made in conjunction with holding its opponent scoreless for three and a half minutes. During the frame, the team went up by 23 points on the way to leading by 28 late in regulation.

Fresno State opened that quarter shooting 2-of-8 from the floor while UNLV spent the entire frame making eight of its 12 tries.

Five players reached double-figures for La Rocque and company three days after four scored 10 points or more.

“It’s been a while since we’ve scored 85 points honestly,” La Rocque said. “We haven’t had five in double-figures but I looked up at the [scoreboard] and all five of them were in the game and I was like, ‘Wow, that’s pretty special.’”

Leading scorer Jasmyn Lott matched her scoring output from the last game in the first minute and a half of this one with five quick points. She’d finish the game with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Fellow senior Shelbee Brown added 15 points as well to go along with her eight rebounds. In conference play, she is averaging 14 points per game coupled with 10.3 rebounds per outing.

“Shelbee’s getting better each and every week,” La Rocque said. “Just being a new player – the reality is this a new team, for me, for our staff and it really took us all non-conference play to see how we can best serve them and put them in the best positions and probably no one more so than Shelbee.”

Former Mountain West Freshman and Sixth Player of the Year Meadow Roland chipped in with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting highlighted by eight points in that game-changing second quarter.

Senior guard Mariah Elohim led all scorers with 17 points on 7-of-12 from the field including three made three-pointers. The 17 points scored are the most for the first-year Lad Rebel this season and it comes against her former team.

“She’s just been really good for us all year,” La Rocque said. “She’s been one of our most consistent players, someone that we can really rely on to make some shots [...] Obviously, it’s her former team but maybe only two players that she played with last year and a new coach. It’s not quite the same as playing your former team because it’s not the same team.

“I don’t think that was extra motivation for her, she’s just a hooper and wants to play well every game regardless of who we play.”

Senior guard Aaliyah Alexander was the final player in double-digits with 13 points and five assists as she continues to settle into a point guard role.

In fact, UNLV is still playing point guard by committee.