Thursday, Dec. 18, 1997 | 12:39 p.m.
UNLV women's basketball coach LaDonna McClain said she is beginning to see the results of her players' hard work.
She just isn't seeing any wins.
The Lady Rebels showed signs of improvement on offense Wednesday night but had their worst defensive showing of the season in a 90-72 loss to Northern Arizona at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The defeat was the eighth in a row to start the season for the Lady Rebels, who gave up a season-high in points to the 5-3 Lumberjacks.
"Offensively, we were somewhat better than what we've been doing, but we've got to come out and do things together," McClain said.
"We have done some things better: we kept our turnovers to 21 and we ran our offense better. We scored 72 points which is something we haven't done, but we gave up 90 points. We've just got to go back and keep working and put it all together."
The Lady Rebels, who trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half, cut the Lumberjacks' lead to eight points, 60-52, with 13:49 remaining.
UNLV turnovers and missed shots allowed NAU to score nine unanswered points and build its lead to 17. The Lumberjacks never let the Lady Rebels get closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
NAU's Marisa von Bromssen connected on 5 of 7 three-point shots in the first half as the Lumberjacks cruised to a 51-40 halftime lead. NAU's von Bromssen led all scorers with 28 points and was one of four NAU players to score in double figures.
McClain also had to be happy with her team's post play as three players, Amy Wunderlich (14), Liz Wolfe (12) and Angalete Dye (11), reached double figures in scoring and outrebounded NAU 34-30. Senior guard Taneisha Gossett led the Lady Rebels in scoring with 17 points.
Still, the Lady Rebels are winless in eight games and McClain said her toughest challenge will be to keep her players motivated with 19 games remaining.
"We've got to stay positive -- and when you're 0-8 that's very hard to do," McClain said. "Certainly, we didn't expect to be 0-8 and without a doubt the hardest part of my job right now is going to be keeping up morale and keeping everybody close.
"(The losing streak) seems like a lifetime, I know, but at the same time we've still got a new season coming up with the WAC. We've got some things to work through and some kids have got to step up."
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