UNLV’s cold stretch in middle quarters results in road loss at Rice

A couple minutes of cold basketball was enough to end the win streak of the UNLV Lady Rebels.

That previous three-game win streak is no more for the program following a, 75-70, loss on the road at Rice Saturday, Dec. 6. That marked a second straight game for UNLV in the state of Texas amidst this four-game road trip.

Its most recent loss knocked the team to 1-3 on the road this season.

Overall, head coach Lindy La Rocque’s group sports a 5-4 overall record with two more non-conference games remaining on the schedule. The aforementioned four-game road trip continues next against Cincinnati Saturday, Dec. 13.

Tip-off is set for 11 a.m.

Going cold for big portions of the middle quarters was enough to ice UNLV out in its most recent loss.

It went scoreless for the final 3:11 of the first half before opening the third quarter without points for the first 2:35. That early second half stretch was part of a 14-1 run by Rice with the visitors’ first field goal of the frame coming at the 5:31-mark.

That offensive drought in the third quarter wasn’t the first of its kind for the Lady Rebels. To start the game, the team went without points for the first four minutes and 15 seconds.

UNLV went 3-for-15 from the field in the first quarter, falling behind 13 points in the process.

For a brief moment, the deficit was trimmed to three on an 8-0 start to the second quarter by the preseason favorites to win the Mountain West for a fifth straight season. Soon after, the game would be tied on a 15-4 run by the visitors in hostile territory.

Before the first half concluded, the Lady Rebels snagged its only leads of the game when it led by two and three points.

That effort would not hold up in the second half as the Owls’ lead grew to as many as 28 points in the fourth quarter. By that point, La Rocque was livid at her team’s effort and could be seen expressing it after calling a fourth quarter timeout.

Senior guard Jasmyn Lott was the lone UNLV player in double-figures, leading the team in scoring with 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

As a collective, the Lady Rebels tallied just six assists on 20 made field goals.

While doing that, the team committed 16 turnovers on the other end of the floor including back-to-back turnovers after that heated timeout in the fourth quarter.