Lott activates in second half, Lady Rebels cruise past Roadrunners

UNLV outlasted the University of Texas – San Antonio in an early season slugfest that tested the resolve of both programs.

In the program’s home opener, the Lady Rebels beat the Roadrunners, 69-51, from The Pavilion Friday, Nov. 6. It’s a repeat game from last season in Texas where UNLV claimed that one by 27 points.

Before tip-off in this one, former multi-time Mountain West Player of the Year Desi-Rae Young had her No. 23 jersey retired by the program just over two years after playing her last game with the team.

“Only two of these players have played with Desi,” head coach Lindy La Rocque said. “But we talked a lot about Desi this week and just the tenacity, the aggressiveness and just the personality and the persona she was on the court and how we wanted to all kind of channel our inner-Desi. I thought our team did a great job of playing today so that we could honor her on a night that is really special to her.”

After losing to USC Monday in the team’s season opener, La Rocque entered just her seventh career game under .500 as a head coach. Friday marked her 192nd career game in the lead chair while sporting a 32-4 record after losses in her career.

With the win, she earned her 150th career victory.

“My routine is pretty similar for every game,” La Rocque said. “I hate losing more than anything. I really try to look internally first, especially after a loss of what I can do better for the team and work even harder. I think hopefully that bleeds into the group of being more prepared and more locked in coming off a loss.”

UNLV will get back to it Tuesday, Nov. 10 with Arizona State in town. Tip-off will be 6:30 p.m. from The Pavilion. That will be the second of seven straight games at home for a program that went 12-3 at home last season.

“The biggest thing we’ve talked about is just not traveling,” La Rocque said. “Let’s take advantage of being at home, in our own beds, having our normal routine of practice and prep in places that we are familiar with.”

Senior guard Jasmyn Lott scored 11 of her 20 points in the third quarter as part of a game-changing 10 minutes for the Lady Rebels. The home team went up by as many as 16 points in the frame while winning the quarter, 26-16.

“I don’t really go into any games thinking it’s going to be my night,” she said. “I don’t know, I’ve been struggling with my confidence a lot. So I just kind of try to help my team as best I can whenever.”

In the third quarter, the Lady Rebels went on a 7-0 run that put them up by 22 points. A large part of that was a defensive effort that would hold their opponent without a point for more than six and a half minutes of the fourth quarter.

Junior forward Meadow Roland reached double-digit scoring in that fourth quarter to finish with 11 points before leaving the game favoring her lower body. Upon being lifted from the contest, she’d be helped on the sideline by La Rocque and other members of the team’s medical staff as she limped gingerly.

Through the first half, both teams had combined to go 14-for-61 from the field. The first 20 minutes featured the Roadrunners going the final 5:21 of the first quarter without a field goal while the Lady Rebels closed the first half without points for the final three minutes and 19 seconds.

Moreover, UNLV went without a field goal for 5:47 of the first quarter as it shot 4-for-20 in the opening frame. It was helped immensely by a defensive pressure that forced the visitors to go 3-for-13 in return.

However, it was a 10-0 run in the second quarter which included back-to-back made three-pointers by the aforementioned Lott to change the complexion of the game.

“Jasmyn in particular, she’s one of the players that played with Desi,” La Rocque said. “They have a really close relationship so I guess I have to fly Desi back from Israel for every game because I would love that from Jasmyn.”