UNLV posts another perfect Thanksgiving Tip-Off record with second win of tournament

Back in The Mack for the final time this regular season and the UNLV Lady Rebels made sure to make the most of it.

They beat the Northern Iowa Panthers, 62-56, Friday, Nov. 28 from the Thomas & Mack Center for its second straight win following a three-game losing streak. Head coach Lindy La Rocque is now 25-6 overall in The Mack with 24 wins in her last 26 tries.

The next time the program steps foot inside the building will be for this season’s Mountain West Championships. A tournament that UNLV had won for three straight years prior to falling short last season.

Friday’s win confirmed a perfect 2-0 run for the Lady Rebels in this year’s UNLV Thanksgiving Turkey Tip-Off. All-time the program is 9-1 in its own iteration of an in-season tournament.

UNLV is now back over .500 with a 4-3 overall record. A four-game road trip looms for the team now with four days of preparation time. It will jump back in action with a meeting against UTSA Wednesday, Dec. 3.

Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

Northern Iowa went on a run just before halftime that nearly undid the vast majority of the work done by UNLV earlier in the first half. The Panthers went on a 10-2 run over the final 4:11 of the second quarter after falling behind by as many as 12 points in the frame.

The Lady Rebels actually built its double-digit lead in the first quarter behind an 11-0 start to the game. During that time, they held their opponents scoreless for the first 6:42 of the game.

Out of halftime, Northern Iowa cut the deficit to two points and then just a single point before tying the game at 30 apiece. From there, UNLV’s defense would hold the visitors without a point for the next three minutes and 18 seconds and another 3:35 soon after that.

That third quarter would be closed by a 15-6 run by the Lady Rebs. The Panthers would make another run in the fourth quarter to trim it to five but the home team would pull away again.

In total, UNLV led for more than 38 minutes of the 40 regulation minutes.

It was the Lady Rebels’ defense that netted the team its early lead. It forced Northern Iowa into six first quarter turnovers while also baiting it into six early quarter fouls.

By the final buzzer, UNLV had forced its opponent into 18 total turnovers. Those numbers outdid the fact that Northern Iowa shot six percentage points better than the winners at 40-34%.

Sophomore forward Meadow Roland didn’t have an individually rough shooting night as she led her team in scoring with 17 points on a crisp 7-for-12 from the floor. She also hauled in five rebounds.

Roland sat for a good portion of that aforementioned second quarter due to foul trouble. She’d be there when her team needed her most including two fourth quarter threes including one after the lead was cut to five points.

Fifth-year guard Aaliyah Alexander added 11 points in the win as senior guard Jasmyn Lott was the final player in double-figures on her way to closing the game with 12 points of her own.