Lifeless effort sees Lady Rebels fail several comeback efforts on the road at The Pit

Various times this season, the UNLV Lady Rebels have looked every bit as dominant as one may expect a four-time regular season conference champion to be. However, very few of those showings have come on the road.

En route to a fifth road loss in 11 tries this season, UNLV was defeated by New Mexico, 68-57, Wednesday, Jan. 28 from The Pit. Heading into the contest, the Lady Rebels were in search of a third consecutive win having won nine of their last 10 games.

Wednesday marked just the second loss in Mountain West play for the preseason favorites to finish atop the conference standings again. In totality, the team is 14-7 this season as this two-game road trip comes to an end.

Up next, UNLV will return home for a one-off date with Colorado State. That meeting is set for Saturday, Jan. 31 from The Pavilion with a 1 p.m. tip time scheduled.

The Lady Rebels found themselves down 11 points very early in the first quarter behind a 10-0 run by the Lobos. Not long after, the visitors found themselves down 15 points in the game’s opening frame.

That early deficit was largely manufactured by a 3-for-5 three-point start by New Mexico.

Even after that fast start by the home team, it was chilled behind a defensive effort that held the Lobos to just two three-pointers made over the next eight attempts.

During that time, UNLV went on a 6-0 run to trim the once double-digit deficit down to seven points. It would be short-lived after New Mexico went back up by 11 points before halftime after it was ultimately cut to six.

The Lady Rebels had another run left in them, highlighted best by a 13-2 run late in the third quarter to cut the difference to five points. Altogether, the team would cut the Lobos’ lead to five points three more times in the fourth quarter but would never get any closer in a game where it never led.

New Mexico had one final push in it to get the lead back up to as many as 13 points before the final buzzer.

Senior guard Jasmyn Lott scored seven of her team’s nine first quarter points. He concluded the night with a team-high 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting.

Fifth-year guard Aaliyah Alexander was the only other UNLV player in double-figures with 12 points to go along with three rebounds and three assists.

Mountain West standout Meadow Roland had just one made field goal in the first half before knocking down back-to-back shots in the third quarter following a 1-for-8 start to the game. She’d end the game with eight points on 3-for-11 from the floor.

Fellow frontcourt mate Shelbee Brown didn’t score her first points of the game until just before halftime on the way to four points on the night in 20 minutes of action.