Lady Rebels back to .500 after second straight road loss

The UNLV Lady Rebels are not short of early season tests though the team’s overall record may have paid the price because of it.

In the program’s final non-conference game of the regular season, UNLV was thumped by Cincinnati, 65-48, Saturday, Dec. 13. The contest marked a meeting against a fifth team from a Power conference in 10 non-conference games this season for the Lady Rebels.

Moreover, it was the team’s third outing opposite a Big 12 opponent. In those games, the team is 1-2 with losses to Baylor and Cincinnati and a win against DePaul.

With its non-conference slate a thing of the past, UNLV sports a 5-5 overall record heading into conference play. Mountain West play begins as the final leg of this four-game road trip for the four-time defending regular season conference champions.

The Lady Rebels will actually welcome the Grand Canyon Lopes into the conference Wednesday, Dec. 17 with tip-off set for 5 p.m.

UNLV lost the third quarter, 22-10, and that put the game in grave jeopardy essentially undoing all of the team’s previous work completed in the first half. Over the final 3:24 of the third quarter, the team was held without a point. To make matters worse, the team opened the fourth quarter scoreless for the first 4:23 of that frame.

After falling behind by 12 points in the third quarter, the deficit would stretch to 20 in the fourth quarter. UNLV went without a point for another long stretch before the final buzzer, this time for more than four and a half minutes.

The 48 points scored are a new season-low for La Rocque’s group with the previous season-low being 50 points which came in the team’s last contest against Rice.

Heading into conference play, UNLV is averaging just under 64 points per game. Last season at this same point, the team was averaging 75 points per outing.

Before the frigid scoring spurts, UNLV overcame a 1-for-11 start from the field in the second quarter to take a lead into halftime. The team closed the first half on a 7-0 run to take a, 27-26, lead into the locker room.

Senior guard Jasmyn Lott cashed in on a three-pointer for the team’s second field goal of the frame. That pushed her into double-figures on the way to 16 points and five rebounds in the loss with eight of her points coming in the game’s opening quarter.

Transfer guard Destiny Leo made her first start with the program and would conclude the night with just two points on no makes despite five three-point attempts. She also added four rebounds and three assists in her 28 minutes of action.

Leo made the start in place of sophomore guard Teagan Colvin, who has averaged just four points and four rebounds a game this season. Despite going 10-deep into the rotation in the loss, La Rocque opted not to play Colvin.