Hot shooting start catapults UNLV into 5th straight Mountain West Championships semifinals

A wild start to the second day of the Mountain West Championships saw the UNLV Lady Rebels as the bracket’s highest remaining seed without having played a game yet.

The program opened this year’s tournament run with a, 79-65, win over Fresno State Sunday, March 8 from the Thomas & Mack Center, a place where the team has yet to lose this season in three tries. That makes it three wins this season in three meetings against the Bulldogs for the Lady Rebels.

“We watched all the games,” head coach Lindy La Rocque said of the tournament. “You're human, you know. So, if anything, we just try to learn from other people's lessons, honestly.”

While the win improves UNLV’s overall record to 21-10 this year, the team has won three straight games as a result. Up next, the second seed Lady Rebels will face either the No. 3 Colorado State Rams or the No. 6 Grand Canyon Antelopes.

That game is set for tomorrow with tip-off slated around 5 p.m. UNLV swept the season series away from GCU in its first year in the conference while splitting two appearances against Colorado State.

“We are bound and determined,” La Rocque said. “I like the determination of our group [...] Just really proud of our group. The way we started the game, that was an emphasis for us. Excited to be playing tomorrow.”

It was a fast shooting start to the game that allowed the Lady Rebels to build a lead they would never lose. The team opened the game with makes on each of its first four three-point attempts with five different players logging one in the first 10 minutes.

“It feels great to just have your teammates have your back,” sophomore forward Meadow Roland said. “I got in some early foul trouble and just for my teammates to get in the game and still score without me out there. It just feels good to not be the only one.”

UNLV went 6-for-8 from three in the first quarter on the way to finishing the game with 12 makes on 25 tries.

“It feels amazing,” fifth-year forward Shelbee Brown said. “We’ll take whatever we can get and it’s one step up the ladder.”

Sophomore guard Teagan Colvin was a main catalyst for that hot start with her accumulating three assists and a steal in her first two-plus minutes off the bench. She ended the night with eight points , four assists and a steal.

“I thought Teagan was huge,” La Rocque said. “We needed her when she was out but you know, you’ve got to take care of the medical side of things. Boy, we are glad to have her back.

“She’s just a point guard [...] she made a couple of really good plays. I mean, she had four assists, leading the team.”

By halftime, eight different players had notched points for La Rocque’s group, leading scorer Meadow Roland had just six points at the midway point after being limited with two first quarter fouls.

“We just want to stay composed,” Brown said. “Composure was the big thing because they had a lot of ball pressure so staying composed and keeping the ball inside the paint [was key].”

Roland bounced back to finish her outing with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and nine rebounds. She also did it on the defensive end with two blocks and a steal.

Brown added three more steals and six more rebounds to the team’s credit. She also chipped in with 14 points in 27 minutes of floor time.

As a team, UNLV held Fresno State to 9-for-27 shooting in the first half while heading into the break with a 14-point lead. In total, the largest lead of the night was 24 points.

“Between our first and second time we played them there was two months,” La Rocque said. “Then when you play them within a 10-day stretch, it’s more minor tweaks and just trying to clean up what maybe you didn’t do well but not drastically changing your plan.”

Senior guard Destiny Leo was the final player in double-figures with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting as all her makes came from downtown.

“I can’t even remember which one she missed,” La Rocque said. “When you get a senior kind of finally towards the end, she knows she's only got a handful left. She's made a lot of big shots in her career and I've kind of hoped and prayed and thought all along, ‘She can shine the brightest when the lights are the brightest.’”