UNLV women’s backcourt in good hands with young guards

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Thursday, March 16, 2023 | 2 a.m.

The UNLV women’s basketball program has undergone a dramatic turnaround in the last three years, transforming from a Mountain West also-ran into a juggernaut currently ranked No. 22 in the nation. The Scarlet and Gray went undefeated in league play this year, have won 22 games in a row and will play in their second straight NCAA Tournament when they tip off against No. 11 Michigan on Friday in Baton Rouge.

The team and the program are in the best shape they’ve ever been. And the next wave of players intend to keep it going.

UNLV is set to say goodbye to two seniors starters in the backcourt when the season ends, and that’s a big deal for a team that wants to push the pace under head coach Lindy La Rocque. Point guard Essence Booker runs the show, averaging 13.2 points and 4.0 assists, while shooting guard Justice Ethridge scores 9.1 points and serves as the team’s top 3-point sniper (39.8%).

They won’t be easy to replace, but there is a plan and a line of succession that should keep UNLV humming into the near future.

Sophomore Kiara Jackson is already a key scorer and facilitator off the bench, posting 7.9 points and 2.4 assists in 23.1 minutes per game. Those contributions earned her Mountain West Sixth Player of the Year honors, and she is primed to assume a bigger role next year.

On the wing, fellow sophomore Alyssa Durazo-Frescas is already a starter alongside Booker and Ethridge and led the team in made 3-pointers (58-of-158, 36.7%).

Booker, a Las Vegas native who transferred to UNLV for her final two college seasons, has assumed a leadership role among the backcourt group, making a point to mold the program’s next generation of ballhandlers.

“Since Day 1 when I met their class, I’ve told them they’re the best freshman class I’ve ever been around,” Booker said. “And now they’re sophomores and you see what they’re doing. I just try to give them all the knowledge I have and the experiences I went through and how I handled adversity, so when it hits them they know what to do. I don’t want to withhold that knowledge. I want them to be great.”

Booker has been a particularly big influence on Jackson, a 5-foot-7 point guard from Grand Prairie, Texas.

“She’s been a great role model on and off the court,” Jackson said. “Talking to me, talking about what coach Lindy wants or just things that I can work on.”

La Rocque has fostered that relationship. A former point guard herself, she has prompted Booker to provide guidance in specific situations.

“Your team more often than not is only as good as your point guard,” La Rocque said. “That’s because of their play on the court, but also the leadership off the court, the mentorship of the younger players and showing the way of how to do things. And she’s done that and gone above and beyond.

“Her and Kiara, they’ve got a great bond,” she continued. “Kiara tries to soak up everything that she can from her because she’s going to be the one taking over that [position] next year, and so whether it’s on the court or off the court, I think Essence really takes that responsibility head on.”

It’s created a beautiful collaboration, with the teams veterans and up-and-comers combining to bring La Rocque’s up-tempo, high-scoring vision to life.

In the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament, Booker and Ethridge each scored a team-high 16 points, while Durazo-Frescas and Jackson each scored nine. They all combined to make 19-of-35 from the field (54.3%) while dishing out 10 assists (led by Jackson’s five).

Jackson attributed the success of the backcourt to the chemistry they’ve developed over the last two years.

“We all have a lot of faith in each other and trust in each other to make the right play,” Jackson said. “We share the ball. All the older players have confidence in us younger players to go out there and do the right thing.”

While Booker and Ethridge will move on after UNLV wraps up its NCAA Tournament run, the backcourt figures to remain a position of strength. In addition to Jackson and Durazo-Frescas, freshman guard freshman Jazmyn Lott has shown flashes of ability in limited minutes this season. The team is also bringing in 2023 point guard Amarachi Kimpson, a top recruit from Texas.

When it comes time to pass the torch, Booker is confident UNLV will be in good hands.

“I definitely want the legacy to continue,” Booker said. “I’m even helping to recruit on recruiting visits with recruits that are coming in next year, and I won’t even be able to play with them, just because I would like them to come to this school and continue the journey and the legacy that we started.”

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.