Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Emotional Strawther, Lady Rebels coast past Aztecs, raise record to 18-8
Strawther scores 18 in memory of mom in win over Aztecs
Pink paper hearts crowded around the dry erase board in the UNLV women’s locker room, taped up before Saturday’s game.
One heart with a #3 in the left corner read, “I’m dedicating this game to Momma,” the last word written in neat, black writing.
“All hustle, all heart for 40 minutes,” the sentence below it read.
And that’s what sophomore forward Paris Strawther gave Saturday.
Strawther, who lost her mother to breast cancer, set a career high with 18 points as the Lady Rebels defeated San Diego State 80-62 at Cox Pavilion.
“My mom, she passed away from breast cancer when I was going into the ninth grade, so this night is very special for me, and I played with a heavy heart,” said Strawther, who also had seven rebounds.
“I always play for her, but tonight was especially special for me because it was the Play4Kay game (in honor of Hall of Fame coach Kay Yow, who died of breast cancer in 2009).”
Before the game, the Lady Rebels (18-8, 9-5 Mountain West) took time to tape their hearts to the wall and speak up in an emotional meeting. Many of the hearts had “Paris’s mom,” scrawled on them.
“I have so much passion for her. I know her mom’s like, ‘My daughter is good. She’s taking care of business,’ ” UNLV coach Kathy Olivier said. “At one point in Paris’s life, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to keep playing basketball, and now she’s getting a free education and she works her tail off. You could ask any of her teammates — they’re Paris fans.”
Strawther’s teammates banded around her as the Lady Rebels used a balanced attack to defeat the Aztecs (9-16, 4-10).
Dakota Gonzalez led UNLV with 20 points, 12 in the first quarter when the Lady Rebels took a 25-11 lead. Dylan Gonzalez scored 17, and Brooke Johnson added 15 in her first game after missing two games with a sore knee. Dylan Gonzalez and Johnson, normally starters, came off the bench.
“Everyone’s been beat up, and we’re just being smart with all of that,” Olivier said. “We’re just trying to be smart and give a lot of different options and different looks, and that’s kind of what’s happening right now.”
That depth paid off as the Lady Rebels avenged an 8768 road loss to the Aztecs on Jan. 18.
“We did a great job of payback. Literally it was payback tonight, and it was nice to see so many different people step up,” Olivier said. “We clearly have Dakota playing good basketball. Brooke’s been playing good basketball. Dylan, Paris, but other people have been stepping up. Alyssa (Anderson), (Simone Sheppard) stepped up tonight. I thought they did some great things. Jordyn Bell got 10 rebounds, so it’s really nice to have so many options.”
But the game, Olivier said, was bigger than the Lady Rebels. No one knew that better than Strawther.
“I believe she was there with me,” she said of her mother. “She was helping me out. I know that for sure.”