Home tourney crown again eludes UNLV
Lady Rebels fall to athletic Drake in Round-Up title game
The wait continues for the UNLV women’s basketball team.
Ten years ago, the Lady Rebels won their Thanksgiving weekend tournament. The hope was this was the year the drought would end and thetrophy would stay in Cox Pavilion. Instead, the Drake Bulldogs got to take the hardware back to Iowa after holding off a late UNLV charge to win the LadyRebelRound-Up076-68on Sunday.
“They’re an athletic team and they tried to turn us over, but we used our depth and everyone played within themselves,” said Drake coach Jennie Baranczyk as her team improved to 6-0. “The two wins and the championship are a bonus. The important thing was I thought we got better playing here back to back with the short turnaround to prepare. That will definitely help get usready for our (Missouri Valley Conference) season.”
The Bulldogs never allowed UNLV to go on a sustained run or take control of the tempo. While Drake didn’t shoot as well from the perimeter as it usually does, it made enough 3-pointers at critical times and showed poise when UNLV tried desperately to catch them in the final minute. The Bulldogs were 13 of 28 from long distance, 8of16inthesecondhalf.
“Drake has a more experienced teamandweknewtheywerefundamentally sound,” Lady Rebels coach Kathy Olivier said. “But I thought it was good for us to go through some adversity and we’ll learn from it.”
Drakeputspressureonopposing defenses with its ability to space the floor and get great looks. The Bulldogs are hard to trap because they move the ball quickly. And though the Bulldogs don’t appear overly athletic, Drake can run when it chooses to. That was the case in the second quarter as the Bulldogsbuilt a30-21leadoverthe first seven minutes. Maddy Dean washittingfromoutsideandLizzy Wendell was effective inside and from midrange. Dean finished with a game-high 23 points, while Wendell had 21 points and wasnamedthetournament’smost valuable player.
The Lady Rebels offense was a series of fits andstarts anddespite placing four players in double figures, led by senior center Aley Rohde’s 16points andcareer-high 18 rebounds, it wasn’t enough as UNLV dropped to 5-1 after shooting just 31 percent from the floor and going 5 of 14 from long distance.
“We were able to take advantage of their size in the post,” Rohde said. “We played well but they made some big shots.”
The Lady Rebls play their next sixgamesontheroad.Theywon’t be back in the Cox until Jan. 6 whenthey face Colorado State.
“I don’t know if we’re roadready,” Olivier said. “I love that we’re 5-1 and we have a good group that gets along. But we’re going to be tested for sure, starting (Sunday) at USC.”
Rohde said: “We’ve got a lot of experience and we have good chemistry. We just have to stick together.”
In the consolation game, Taylor Brown’s jumper in the key with 14 seconds remaining gave George Mason a 64-63 win over Tulsa. The Patriots, who were led by Brownwith21points,improvedto 3-5. Tulsa (1-5) was led by Kelsey Grove with 16 points. — Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.