UNLV Lady Rebels Basketball Team goes 2-0 to start out 2021-22 Season
The UNLV Lady Rebels Basketball team has started out the season 2-0 under their new head coach Lindy La Rocque. They have done so with an excellent roster and talented shooters.
La Rocque was hired by UNLV Athletics Director Desiree Reed-Francois back on Mar. 18, 2021. With her experience playing and coaching at Stanford University, she will look to use that experience in recruiting and for the fast paced style the Lady Rebels have been playing so far.
Read More: 6 Reasons Why UNLV Football Has Won Two Games In a Row
Lady Rebel’s First Win
On Tuesday, November 9, 2021, UNLV won a nail biter over the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles, (85-81) in it’s season opener on the road.
The win pushed the Lady Rebel’s road game winning streak to 10 straight games. The other nine games were won prior to hiring coach La Rocque.
This win also marked La Rocque’s first win as a collegiate head coach and the players helped her out big time.
UNLV jumped out to a 19-7 lead, scoring their first 12 points with 5:08 left in the first quarter. The teams never separated by more than two points in the third quarter.
Sophomore Desi-Rae Young scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Second Win
After a close win in game one of the season, the Lady Rebels came back to play in their home opener and cruised to an (80-42) win over the Montana State Bobcats.
The game was special as it was the first home opener that fans were able to return to the Thomas and Mack Arena, at full capacity. The fans were treated to a great performance.
In an interview with UNLV Rebels, La Rocque said “It was great (to have fans back). This was awesome, We had a great turn out and a bunch of alums here. It’s just great to have fans back, that’s why we do this.”
Key Players
The Lady Rebel’s have some very good scorers on their team. Most of them play the modern day run-gun style of basketball and then shoot from three. As a team, they shot 46.2% from three-point range and made over half of their free throws in the first game against Oral Roberts.
Essence Booker scored 21 points and made 1 three-pointer, while Khayla Rooks scored 14 points and made 2 three-pointers.
The Rebel’s three-point shooting luck continued as the team shot 47.1% from beyond the arc. They were also 4-7 as a team from the free-throw line.
Desi-Rae Young was the leading scorer of the game with 21 points and made 5 shots from the free throw line. She can shoot from anywhere out on the court, much like the rest of the team.
Check out the Schedule
Right now, it’s a good time to be a UNLV Lady Rebel basketball fan.
Coach La Rocque has her girls ready to showcase their talents with their strong shooting basketball skills. So far it’s led to two wins on the season.
But, the team needs to stay humble, keep shooting the ball well and play great long arm man-man defense to stay competitive in the Mountain West Conference this year. Right now, they must focus on what’s ahead during the remainder of the non-conference schedule.
Check out their schedule so you don’t miss a game.
UNLV takes on the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on the road tonight, Wednesday, November 17 at 5:00 p.m. PT. It can be found on ESPN or stream it live on ESPN Plus.
