Lady Rebels return to win column with stellar defensive performance

While the time spent as a ranked team was short-lived, the UNLV Lady Rebels returned to the win column to wrap up an East coast swing to its three-game road trip..

UNLV got even on the trip after beating Fairleigh Dickinson, 71-59, from the Rothman Center Thursday, Dec. 21 to end the road trip 2-1. The team entered play coming off its first loss of the year after starting the year with nine straight victories.

With its 10-1 record, the Lady Rebels will now enter conference play which is set to begin Saturday, Dec. 30 with a home contest against the Utah State Aggies. The tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. inside the Cox Pavilion.

By returning to its stout defensive ways, UNLV blitzed FDU for 17 points off turnovers as well as 11 fast break points. In total, the Knights were forced into 10 turnovers versus eight turnovers on the other end. In fact, the Lady Rebels didn’t commit a turnover in the first quarter and it would not come until the 8:20-mark of the second.

For a five-minute span between the end of the first quarter and start of the second, UNLV held the home team without a point. That stretch would eventually turn into a 12-2 spurt.

Offensively, the Lady Rebels were lifted by a strong bench presence that outscored the Knights’ second-unit, 28-14. During a brief period, the reigning back-to-back Mountain West Champions were up +20 in the bench points category.

Sophomore guard Jasmyn Lott scored all 10 of her points in the first half including a field goal to give the team its first double-digit lead of the game. Freshman guard Amarachi Kimpson nailed a 30-plus foot three-pointer at the third quarter buzzer and opened the fourth frame with an and-one finish at the rim.

Senior center Desi-Rae Young picked up two first quarter fouls as part of nine whistles in the first 10 minutes of the game. Teammate Alyssa Brown earned two fouls in 19 seconds before the eight minute mark of the opening session.

Young would respond to finish with 19 points on 6-for-9 from the field to go along with seven rebounds. In the last game, she was held to a season-low six points in a 30-point road loss to Seton Hall. That six-point outing was her lowest in a regular season game since Jan. 9, 2021 when she was limited to four points.

Brown closed the night with a team-high 11 rebounds with just two points.

Junior guard Kiara Jackson was the final Lady Rebel in double-figures with 12 points on 55% shooting.