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    Lady Rebels’ search for fourth straight conference title opens with drubbing of Fresno State

    Writer's picture: Terrel EmersonTerrel Emerson

    No matter the year, UNLV’s end goal hasn’t changed over the last few seasons as the Lady Rebel pursue a fourth straight conference championship.


    In the Mountain West opener, UNLV thumped Fresno State 78-53 Sunday, Dec. 29 from the Cox Pavilion. It was the team’s first contest inside the building since Nov. 19 as the program improved to 8-1 at home this season.


    “Proud of the way we started conference play,” head coach Lindy La Rocque said. “Conference has a different intensity and purpose to every possession and I thought our team was locked in from the start. We came out to start the game firing and didn’t let up on the gas.”


    With an overall record of 9-4, the Lady Rebels will head to the road for their first Mountain West road game of the year. It will be a New Year’s Day meeting with the San Jose State Spartans. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.


    Fresno State never led in the 25-point victory for UNLV. It nearly took five full minutes before the Bulldogs would score their first points of the game. At that point, the home team had built a 9-0 lead.


    In total, the visitors started the game 1-for-9 before finishing with 37% from the field for the game.


    “Our rebounding was an emphasis,” La Rocque said. “I thought we did a very good job on the glass, holding them off the offensive boards and us getting in there and getting some extra possessions for us.”


    UNLV would go up by 12 in the first quarter and 21 in the second quarter before ultimately going up by 29 before the final buzzer.


    Everyone in uniform played for La Rocque with all but three scoring.


    “It really is a [balanced effort],” La Rocque said. “I know we started out the year that way and each game has kind of required something different. But here was a game where it was about making the plays and sometimes those were for each other.”


    The play of bigs McKinna Brackens and Alyssa Brown helped carry the Lady Rebels to their latest victory. The former tallied 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists while the latter added 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists.


    Both were at the heart of a +20 mark in the rebounding category while the team compiled 20 assists on 30 made field goals.


    “Just proud of our effort,” La Rocque said. “I thought we had a really balanced team effort, we shared the ball — 20 assists.”


    Sophomore guard Amarachi Kimpson recorded 12 points aided by 10 more from backcourt teammate Kiara Jackson, who reached the 1,000-point threshold. In doing so, Jackson became the 26th Lady Rebel to accomplish the feat.


    “Big game for Kiara Jackson reaching 1,000 points,” La Rocque said. “Just the epitome of a great college student-athlete. A four-year player, there’s no one more deserving than her so happy for her to reach that milestone in our program.”


    Freshman forward Meadow Roland was the final player in double-figures with 12 points. She helped the team win the points in the paint battle, 40-24, in her limited time on the floor.

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