Pair of 20-point scorers keeps Lady Rebels undefeated to start conference play

A New Year’s Day mixup allowed for UNLV to add to its recent lopsided series advantage over San Jose State.

The Lady Rebels beat the Spartans, 90-70, Wednesday, Jan. 1 from Provident Credit Union. The program has now won six consecutive games over its Mountain West foe with its last loss coming in the 2020 season.

“I think one way that we’ve been really successful is we’ve been able to find multiple ways to win,” head coach Lindy La Rocque said. “I credit our staff for finding talented players. We definitely have a style of play but then we’re flexible and do whatever the game calls for.”

Wednesday served as UNLV’s first conference road game of the season. It also marked the start of two consecutive games away from home this week. Saturday, Jan. 4 the team will be in Idaho to take on Boise State for the first time this season. Gametime is scheduled for 5 p.m.

Though embarking on a conference road trip this time around, December’s road trip through Texas and Illinois helped the program build callouses for moments like this during the conference slate.

“That’s part of the adversity we put our team through intentionally early,” La Rocque said. “We’re getting some ice cream like we do for road wins and then we’re getting on a flight to head home. But then it is a quick turnaround to go back out on the road and that’s fine.

”Our team has done that and we know what we’re going to be walking into. Kind of another snake pit of a team that wants to beat us.”

With Mountain West play still fresh, the Lady Rebs currently hold a 10-4 overall record. As of now, the team sits atop the conference standings in a three-way tie for first place.

UNLV had to overcome a slow shooting start in order to maintain its perfect start to conference play. After tallying its first basket of the game, the team would go scoreless for the next three-plus minutes of the opening quarter.

By halftime, the Lady Rebels had been held to 37% shooting from the field.

“The fact of the matter is conference wins are hard,” La Rocque said. “And road wins in particular are even harder. Every possession matters and every little minute matters but we didn’t get going [early]. We were a little slow to get started then we found our way.”

After ties at 13 and 16, senior guard Kiara Jackson splashed home a three-pointer to regain the lead for UNLV. In the team’s last outing, she surpassed the 1,000 career point mark, becoming the 26th Lady Rebel to do so.

Jackson was one of the team’s 20-point scorers on the day along with backcourt teammate Amarachi Kimpson. Fifteen of Kimpson’s 20 points came in the first half while Jackson did most of her heavy lifting in the second half with 12 points.

The tandem combined for 40 points on 15-of-27 total from the floor.

“[Kimpson] is just really dynamic and she’s one in particular where she can score in a number of different ways,” La Rocque said. “If teams are going to eye-in on either Kiara or Rachi, the other one can figure it out. That’s the luxury, they’re both point guards by nature so it’s like having two brains out there.”

In total, UNLV outshot San Jose State, 44% to 38% in the winning effort.

Senior forward Alyssa Brown recorded a double-double with 10 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Her 10 rebounds tied for the game-high.

However late in regulation, much of the fourth quarter offense went through redshirt freshman Meadow Roland. As the beneficiary of the focused offense, she concluded her outing with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting coupled with four rebounds (all offensive) in just 18 minutes of action.

“Meadow leads [the bigs] in rebounds — leads our team in rebounds,” La Rocque said. “Off the bench. They’re all right there at six point something but she’s a force on the block. She’s big time.

”We know the last few years we’ve had the Sixth Woman of the Year and I’m looking at our team [now] and that’s her. Tell me someone that’s in the conference — we’ll see who's better off the bench than she is.”