Three-point heave results in another road loss as UNLV’s losing streak hits 3 for first time in 6 years

After being at the top of the Mountain West for the better part of the last five years, a recent slide has the UNLV women’s basketball program living in some unwanted rarified air.

UNLV lost a second straight road game as part of back-to-back away contests when it fell at Arizona State, 56-53, Saturday, Nov. 22. The program has now lost three consecutive road games dating back to last season when it went 8-5 away from home.

Moreover, it’s the first three-game losing streak of the head coaching career of head coach Lindy La Rocque.

Saturday also marked the third power conference opponent through the first five games of the season for the Lady Rebels. In such games, the team is 1-2 with its lone win coming against the DePaul Blue Demons.

In total, UNLV is now 2-3 on the year which means the team is under .500 for the first time since the 2020-21 season.

Looking to end the losing streak as soon as possible, the Lady Rebels will be heading back home for their semi-annual UNLV Thanksgiving Turkey Tip-Off. However, the competition doesn’t get any easier as the Creighton Bluejays will be the team’s first contest of its hosted in-season tournament.

Creighton ended UNLV’s season in the NCAA Tournament two years ago. The rematch is set for Wednesday, Nov. 26 with tip-off set for 12 p.m.

On the way to the eventual loss, the Lady Rebels hit some crucial three-pointers that put them in a position to potentially steal a huge win over the Sun Devils.

Sophomore forward Meadow Roland hit a long ball to tie the game at 50 apiece in the fourth quarter. Moments later, senior guard Jasmyn Lott would duplicate the effort to tie the game at 53-all.

Earlier in the fourth quarter, UNLV held the lead on a made three from senior guard Mariah Elohim.

With the game tied at 53, Arizona State’s Marley Washenitz banked in a turnaround three-pointer while draped by two defenders as the shot clock expired allowing for just 4.5 left on the game clock.

UNLV’s zone was good on the play which forced the offensive breakdown before the game-winning shot on Washenitz’s lone make of the night.

Two of the Lady Rebels’ last four losses have come on game-winning baskets in the final five seconds or at the buzzer. This dates back to last season’s WBIT loss at the buzzer to the Florida Gators.

On the opposing side for the first time since her days with the UNLV program, now Arizona State forward McKinna Brackens shined. She hit her second three-pointer of the game in the second quarter to up her team’s lead to four on the way to an eventual eight-point lead before halftime.

Brackens closed the night with 23 points on 10-of-17 from the field coupled with 10 rebounds and a block.

As her primary defender, Roland was able to come up with a pair of blocks of her own in addition to an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double while playing nearly 39 minutes of the 40-minute ball game.