UNLV Lady Rebels and UNLV Lady Rebels head coach Lindy La Rocque celebrate with the trophy after their 75-65 victory over the Colorado State Rams in the Mountain West womens championship game at the Thomas & Mack Center Wednesday, March 9, 2022.
Friday, Dec. 23, 2022 | 3:10 p.m.
UPCOMING HOME GAMES
December 29 vs. Wyoming: 6:30 p.m., local Cox channel 125
December 31 vs. Colorado State: 3 p.m., local Cox channel 125
January 14 vs. New Mexico: 6 p.m., Fox Sports 1
January 16 vs. Boise State: 8 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
January 28 vs. UNR: 2 p.m., local Cox channel 125
Tickets $6 general admission, unlvtickets.com.
The UNLV women’s basketball team is on a roll.
As this year’s non-conference schedule wound down, UNLV had won 25 of its previous 29 games dating back to last season, including a run to the Mountain West tournament championship and an NCAA Tournament berth. The squad opened the 2022-2023 campaign by winning its first seven contests.
And yet, head coach Lindy La Rocque still doesn’t think we’ve seen the best the Scarlet and Gray have to offer. “We’re getting close,” she says.
That’s how high the bar has been raised under La Rocque, who is in her third year at the helm. Her expectations are especially stratospheric considering the makeup of the team, which returns every key contributor from last year’s squad that broke through for the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 20 years. So despite the team’s impressive 9-1 start in non-conference play, La Rocque believes it’s capable of more.
“Offensively we’re not our best, but we’re getting close,” she says. “Defensively we’ve had some really good games, but we’re not there yet. We’ve made some strides and we’re finding our rhythm, but I think being close is a good place to be. You don’t want to be a finished product just yet, and I think we know that.”
UNLV won’t be a finished product when it opens conference play by hosting Wyoming on December 29, either, but that’s not going to matter to the rest of the Mountain West. Given the way the Scarlet and Gray stormed to the league title last year, UNLV knows it will be marked from Day 1.
La Rocque is counting on her veteran squad, led by junior center Desi-Rae Young, senior guard Essence Booker and junior forward Nneka Obiazor, to lead the way as UNLV navigates the treacherous, 18-game MWC schedule.
Young, who is enjoying her best season so far at 18.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, says UNLV is prepared to receive every opponent’s best shot.
“I think we all know that we’ve got a target on our back,” Young says. “We are one of the best teams in the conference. I have a lot of faith in us and everything that we’re doing.”
La Rocque says the grind of conference play will help UNLV raise its game to another level.
“While the non-conference season is great, it ultimately means nothing,” she explains. “Especially our returners, I think they really understand the intensity level that changes when you get into conference play. The magnitude of every possession of every game. And we’re preparing for that. Our team rises to the occasion. I’m excited for when we flip that switch in conference play, because I know we’re going to be ready.”
Booker is one of those players La Rocque is waiting on to flip the switch. The fifth-year point guard and reigning MWC Tournament MVP isn’t scoring at quite the same rate as last year. After leading the team with 15.5 points in 2021-22, her average has dipped to 12.1 through the first 10 games, but most of that is attributable to a cold start from 3-point range (17.9%). As Booker’s shot comes around, her game will round into form.
In the meantime, Obiazor has been picking up some of the slack, raising her scoring to 12.4 points per game while shooting a team-best 40.9% from long range.
Beyond the veteran core, UNLV is also getting critical production from sophomore role players Alyssa Brown, Kiara Jackson and Alyssa Durazo-Frescas, who are combining for 22.3 points.
“We’re getting a lot from them,” Young says of the second-year trio. “They’re just as big as the starting five.”
When it comes down to winning time, however, expect La Rocque to lean on her experienced players—the ones who have been there before and have come through time and time again.
Despite the gaudy record, UNLV isn’t there quite yet—but its close.
“I see glimpses of it,” La Rocque says. “There’s probably no basketball situation that this team hasn’t been in, and they know what it takes to be successful in those situations. Our experience will be an advantage when something is on the line.”
This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.
