UNLV women’s basketball game day
■ Who: UNLV vs. Fresno State
■ When: 5 p.m. Sunday
■ Where: Thomas & Mack Center
■ TV: Mountain West.com
■ About No. 2 UNLV (20-10, 15-5, Mountain West)
UNLV enters the Mountain West conference tournament in hopes to win its fourth championship in five years.
The Lady Rebels held the title for three straight seasons in 2022, 2023 and 2024. That streak was ended by San Diego State, which eliminated UNLV in the semifinals last year.
A 76-47 victory against Boise State on Wednesday in UNLV’s regular-season finale secured the No. 2 seed and first-round bye for the Lady Rebels, placing them right behind San Diego State in the standings and conference tournament seeding.
Forward Shelbee Brown led the way with a season-high 22 points and 16 rebounds in that contest.
Forward Meadow Roland and Brown received All-Mountain West postseason awards, which were announced Saturday.
Roland, who had her sights on Mountain West Player of the Year was named All-Mountain West first team and All-Defensive team after leading the Lady Rebels in scoring with 16.1 points per game, which ranked third in the league. Roland was also the second-leading rebounder in the Mountain West with a team-high 9.53 rebounds per game.
Brown led the league with 10.5 rebounds per game and was the only Mountain West player to average a double-double in points and rebounds this year.
“Meadow and Shelbee have both had tremendous conference seasons,” Lady Rebels head coach Lindy La Rocque said of her team’s latest accolades. “Both are very deserving of recognition. Now, our team is focused on doing everything we need to be able to win three games in three days for a championship.”
■ About Fresno State (15-17, 8-12, Mountain West)
No. 7-seeded Fresno State advanced to the second round by defeating No. 10-seeded UNR 74-57 on Saturday.
The Bulldogs lost to UNLV in both matchups between the teams this season, falling 85-59 on Dec. 31 and 68-54 on Feb. 28.
The team’s head coach, Ryan McCarthy, was hired in April of last year and touts a “mayhem” style of basketball. His system emphasizes a fast pace and full-court press.
Fresno State leads the Mountain West in three different categories: turnovers forced per game (18.6), steals per game (9.7) and three-point percent defense (27.8).
Guard Emilia Long is the team’s leading scorer with 13.3 points per game.
Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Callie__Fin on X.
