Glaser eager to return to action after injury

Who: UNLV Lady Rebels (18-9) vs. Loyola Marymount (21-9) in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: Gersten Pavilion, Los Angeles

Last meeting: The teams met during the 1998-99 season in Regina Miller's UNLV coaching debut. The Rebels won 62-57 as then-freshman Linda Frohlich scored 17 points.

Nobody was happier about the news that UNLV had received an invite to play in the Women's National Invitation Tournament this week than Lady Rebel freshman center Petra Glaser.

"That's true," the 6-6 native of Amtsberg, Germany, said Monday afternoon. "Now I get a chance to play again."

Glaser has been sidelined six weeks since chipping a bone in her left knee during a collision with Colorado State's Angie Gorton. But she is expected to see her first game action since suffering the injury on Feb. 1 when the Lady Rebels (18-9) travel to Loyola Marymount for their WNIT opener on Thursday night at Albert Gersten Pavilion.

Glaser, a member of the German Junior National Team, had been averaging 11.2 points per game and 4.6 rebounds at the time of the injury. She earned Mountain West Player of the Week honors on Dec. 11 following an impressive 21-point outing at Arizona.

To say her large presence in the middle was sorely missed the last nine games by the Lady Rebels would be an understatement.

"I think it's huge that Petra is back, not only for what she brings on the basketball court but also psychologically for the team as well," UNLV coach Regina Miller said. "I know they missed her not being out there for practice as well as just having her presence out there on the court. I think Petra's return will provide us with a lift and give us a little extra incentive to step it up even more now."

"Just having Petra back and having a full squad again is going to give us a lot more self-confidence," junior forward Linda Frohlich said. "Petra can do it all. She's going to take the pressure off the outside players and help develop our inside game."

Miller said she was unsure just how much action Glaser will see Thursday night, however.

"We'll just have to wait and see how she practices the next couple of days and how well the knee responds," Miller said.

Glaser, who did some shooting and running drills before last week's Mountain West tournament, said she hopes "to play quite a bit" against the Lions.

"I'm anxious to see how I play," she said. "I didn't really practice for five weeks. I hope I didn't forget everything. I could be a little bit rusty. But I'm just happy to have a chance to play again."

Glaser's return could be a big key against Loyola Marymount. One of the Lions' top players is 6-2 freshman center Adrianne Slaughter (10.4 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 48 blocks).

"They're both talented freshmen," Miller said. "We recruited (Slaughter) early and had some interest in her. She's an extremely athletic kid. But our getting Petra back ... they'll have to prepare for that."

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