The UNLV women’s basketball team warmed up for its first game of the Mountain West tournament in white shooting shirts with the phrase “NOTHING EASY” emblazoned across the front in scarlet.
The top-seeded Lady Rebels were then reminded of that slogan for the entirety of their 80-70 quarterfinal win over No. 8 Boise State on Monday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Trailing 55-50 after three quarters and having never led, UNLV limited the Broncos to one field goal in the final four minutes and outscored them by 15 in the fourth quarter to reach the semifinals.
The Lady Rebels will play San Diego State, a 63-53 winner over New Mexico, at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The teams split the season series, each winning on its home court. The winner will advance to Wednesday’s championship game.
Going for four-peat
UNLV (24-6) has won 10 straight conference tournament games and is looking to become the first team to win four consecutive titles since Boise State in 2020.
“We’re doing something that’s really hard, which is winning a lot of basketball games,” UNLV coach Lindy La Rocque said. “I know from years past we made it look easy — especially this first-round game. The last three years we’ve won the first round by an average of 25, 30 points.”
Amarachi Kimpson led the Lady Rebels with a career-high 29 points, followed by Aaliyah Alexander (14) and Kiara Jackson (13). Alyssa Brown finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.
La Rocque, named the MW’s Coach of the Year for the third time in five seasons, opened her postgame remarks by saying she needed to take a shower.
It was presumably a joke about how active she was on the sideline. Her players said that passion made the difference.
“Toughness. That was a big word today,” Kimpson said. “She really got into us, like (in the) third and fourth quarter. And it really gave us the fire to come back and gain the lead.”
“I’m sure you heard her from the stands,” Brown interjected. “We had to play with some toughness. That’s what it came down to.”
Slow start for UNLV
Boise State (17-14) led 25-18 after the first quarter by starting 3-for-3 on 3-pointers.
The Lady Rebels rallied for a 34-34 halftime tie after Kimpson hit back-to-back baskets in the final minute, but they had a lot to figure out during the break.
Boise State had outrebounded them 25-17, and Jackson, their star point guard, was 1-for-12 from the field.
The improvement out of halftime wasn’t immediate. Boise State opened the third quarter on a 6-0 run, but Jackson scored her first 3-pointer with 3:15 left to cut the deficit to 49-46.
Jackson was defrosting for the fourth quarter, when she scored on back-to-back drives to give the Lady Rebels their first lead, 58-57.
Brown said they were never “deflated” by Jackson’s shooting struggles because they knew the senior would figure it out. La Rocque echoed that sentiment, saying she simply “gave her a little bit of space” because she was confident Jackson would make the right plays when it mattered.
Of course, La Rocque didn’t take that approach with everyone else.
“They looked a little lethargic in our huddles. And I wasn’t going to let myself sleep tonight if I didn’t try to change it,” she said. “They feed off of me and my energy and what I’m giving them. Sometimes that means ripping them a new one a little bit and letting them feel that, and then also while doing that infusing confidence in them.”
Boise State’s Tatum Thompson scored 25 points. The Broncos shot 49 percent, while UNLV struggled at 39 percent.
Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.
