Rebounding proves prevalent as UNLV fights off Colorado State rally

A .500 record in the last four games improved as the UNLV Lady Rebels picked up a win in a pit-stop home game against the Colorado State Rams Saturday afternoon.

UNLV dumped Colorado State, 64-51, Saturday, Jan. 31 from The Pavilion in a matchup that featured the second and third-best teams in the Mountain West standings. As a result, the preseason favorites to win the conference are now 10-2 in Mountain West play.

“Really proud of our team’s effort especially in that fourth quarter,” head coach Lindy La Rocque said. “Coming off a loss, it’s about our response. Then add in some adversity of a great team in Colorado State, national tv, there were a lot of pieces to this game.”

The win means UNLV is now 9-2 at home this season with two of its next three games coming from the friendly confines of The Pavilion. Overall, the team is 15-7 this year and it will take that record into a road game against Utah State Saturday, Feb. 7.

Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m.

“We have to carry that forward,” La Rocque said. “Because more conference games are going to feel like this. A grind, a grind and then who’s going to have the discipline to finish it all the way through.”

A 53-second spurt in the fourth quarter averted serious danger for the Lady Rebels as they were able to regain control and put away the Rams.

Senior guard Jasmyn Lott reached double-figures with 12 points on a made three-pointer. Soon after, junior guard Sydni Summers would net a three off an offensive rebound by sophomore forward Meadow Roland to force a timeout from the visitors.

Summers also drilled a buzzer-beating three to close the first quarter before adding a second fourth quarter three to push that home team spurt to 11-0 and stretch the lead back to 12 points. That run would be extended to 17-2 with five straight makes from the field for the program.

“Syd coming off the bench, hitting some huge shots,” La Rocque said. “Jasmyn does what she does coming in late with some clutch baskets for us. And her defense is just tremendous.”

Soon after, Summers connected with the dagger to reach 12 points in the win.

“I reminded her last week that she had only been cleared for a month,” La Rocque said. “Coming off a pregnancy, having a young baby and all the things that come from that. She wanted to kind of jump right back in as we wanted her to but some of that still takes time.”

Fittingly enough, that fourth quarter jolt of energy was heavily influenced by the team’s rebounding, something that was evident from the jump.

“Everything is a learning process,” La Rocque said. “This group, we don’t have a ton of learning experience together, we only have the experiences we’ve experienced this season. They like to be coached, they have to be reminded as all young people do but we’re trying not to make the same mistakes over and over.”

Roland hauled in five rebounds before scoring her first points of the game. Early in the second quarter, she’d reel in a sixth one as did her frontcourt teammate Shelbee Brown. By halftime, the duo combined for 13 points and 15 rebounds with a 6-for-10 shooting mark from the field.

“Meadow played 36 minutes,” La Rocque said. “She was our leading scorer, leading rebounder, had some great blocks in there and she carries a lot of weight honestly. The biggest thing she carries is the attention of the other team.

“[Brown] just plays so hard. Sometimes it feels for better or worse but more often than not she’s making an effort play that feeds energy into someone else that might be thinking about something else. She kind of seems quiet there and then you look up and she’s got 12 points, 14 rebounds and a couple of huge baskets.”

Both Roland and Brown reached double-digit rebounds in the third quarter on the way to the pair each recording a double-double. Roland tallied 14 points and 14 rebounds while Brown chipped in with 12 points and 14 more rebounds.

As a team, the Lady Rebels outrebounded the Rams, 40-28.

“We’ve had to learn that we need to do those little things in order to win based off the few losses that we’ve had,” Roland said. “It’s little areas that we have to tighten up. If we tighten up those little areas, we’re able to beat those teams.”