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Survive and advance means finding a way to win by any means necessary and that’s what the UNLV Lady Rebels had to do to vanquish the Colorado State Rams to move on to another conference title game.
UNLV put away Colorado State with late free throws for a, 62-52, final tally Tuesday, March 12 from the Thomas & Mack Center in the semifinals of the Mountain West Championship. The Lady Rebels swept the three meetings with the Rams this year after taking the first two meetings by a combined eight points despite having a 25.2 win margin against the Mountain West during the regular season.
“It was a grind,” head coach Lindy La Rocque said. “It was a March basketball – it was hard. Things felt hard because you’re playing a great team and you just kind of find ways to win.”
UNLV has now advanced to a third straight Mountain West title game and will be opposed by either Boise State or San Diego State. The reigning defending champs will be riding a 14-game win streak as the nation’s 21st team. Moreover, the program entered the top-20 of the coaches poll ahead of Tuesday’s tilt.
A win on Wednesday would not only clinch the Mountain West Tournament title and punch another NCAA Tournament ticket for the program but would also serve as the team’s 30-win of the season.
“Really proud of our team for getting the win,” La Rocque said. “Our goal is to get to championship Wednesday and we’re playing in the game.”
The last time UNLV and Colorado State met, freshman guard Amarachi Kimpson closed the show. She’d put on an encore performance during the semifinal matchup between the two programs scoring seven straight points late in regulation and nine of the team’s 11 points during that stretch.
“It means a lot to me,” she said. “It’s my first go around with these girls so I want to get to the championship with them and realize what it takes to get there.”
An abrupt switch from a man-to-man defense into a morphing zone defense resulted in a turnover that turned into a layup for Kimpson on the other end to start her scoring spurt. She’d end the night with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-12 from the field.
“She’s a really tough player to stop one-on-one,” La Rocque said. “She has her way of just sneaking her way to the rim, she has great hangtime, athleticism, so I had to have the trust and faith in her to know if she doesn’t get a shot up she’s going to make the right play.”
With the team up six and time running down in the third quarter, La Rocque opted for a Kimpson isolation while defended by former conference Player of the Year McKenna Hofschild. Kimpson would drive to the basket and complete the layup through the helping defense.
“It’s great that coach puts a lot of confidence in me to make those plays,” Kimpson said. “Of course, it’s not the first time we’re running it so it’s great to work on it in practice and come into a game and she has full confidence in me to take it.”
Hofschild would be held scoreless through most of the first half with her first point coming with less than two minutes to go before halftime. She didn’t find her offensive rhythm until late in the third quarter when she scored six of Colorado State’s 10 points during a stretch.
By the final buzzer, Hofschild had been held to nine points on 4-of-12 shooting. Through three games against the Lady Rebels this season, she averaged just under 19 points per game on a little less than 38% from the floor.
“We know we’ve got to build a wall when it comes to her,” Kimpson said. “She’s a great player who can score on all three levels. It’s a team effort to stop one person but it’s also the people around her.”
This year’s Mountain West Player of the Year Desi-Rae Young was double-teamed by the Rams’ defense every time she touched the ball in the paint. As a result, UNLV splashed home four made threes in the game’s opening quarter but wouldn’t have the same luck throughout the duration of the contest.
At halftime, both Hofschild and Young had combined for just seven points on 3-of-13 from the field.
“Desi didn’t have the best night,” La Rocque said. “But we’re not going to stop going to her, because she makes so many other things happen – they do have to send the double, she had four assists.”
Young made her presence felt on the boards, finishing the night with a game-high 13 rebounds followed by 10 from frontcourt teammate Alyssa Brown.
Junior guard Kiara Jackson was the only other player in double-figures for the victorious Lady Rebels with 12 points behind some late pull away free throws.