Lady Rebels heading west to open NCAA Tournament — PHOTOS

Unlike last year, the UNLV women’s basketball team will not have to make a cross-country trip to open the NCAA Tournament.

UNLV (30-2) received a No. 10 seed and will face No. 7 seed Creighton in a first-round game at 4 p.m. Saturday in Los Angeles at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion.

“We’re super excited,” senior center Desi-Rae Young said. “This is a good team that we can play well against and get past the first round. A lot of fans will come. A lot of my family lives in Los Angeles, and a lot of our teammates’ families live in California. It’s very exciting. We should have a really nice crowd.”

The Lady Rebels, making their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance, erupted in excitement when their name was announced, as did the crowd at the team’s watch party inside the Strip View Pavilion at the Thomas & Mack Center.

“L.A. is not too far,” UNLV coach Lindy La Rocque said. “It’s exciting for our fans because they’re kind of like, ‘Oh yeah, we can really make this one happen.’ Obviously, I was more concerned with the opponent and what the bracket looks like.”

If UNLV wins, it will face the winner of No. 2 UCLA and No. 15 California Baptist in the second round. UNLV is in the Albany 2 bracket where Iowa is the No. 1 seed.

UNLV, ranked No. 21 by the Associated Press, won its third straight Mountain West tournament title Wednesday to earn the conference’s automatic NCAA berth.

Last year, UNLV was a No. 11 seed and lost to No. 6 Michigan 71-59 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In 2022, as a No. 13 seed, UNLV lost to No. 4 Arizona 72-67 in Tucson.

This is the third time UNLV has gone to the NCAA Tournament three years in a row (1984-86, 1989-91).

La Rocque said this year’s team has a different energy and edge coming into this tournament.

“The group is mature and really determined to get the job done,” La Rocque said. “They’ve balanced the excitement with the preparation and the commitment to know what it takes to come out with a win and not just to be there.”

Junior forward Alyssa Brown agreed with La Rocque’s assessment. Brown said the players have a “little bit” of a chip on their shoulders after not getting wins in their last two tournament appearances.

“We talk about it in the locker room all the time, that if we get in the (NCAA Tournament), it’s going to end differently than the last times,” Brown said. “We’re hungry for a win in the NCAA Tournament. We’re ready to put Vegas on the map, and we think about it constantly.”

Creighton (25-5) finished second in the Big East. La Rocque said she’s watched a little bit of Creighton this year and she expects a “disciplined, tough battle.”

UNLV challenged itself in nonconference and picked up wins against power conference opponents Arizona and Oklahoma, who are both in the NCAA Tournament field. The Lady Rebels lost to Big East opponent Seton Hall 84-54 on Dec. 16 on the road.

Along with a tougher nonconference schedule, Young said the experience of winning Mountain West titles will give UNLV an advantage.

“We all have that mindset of winning and encouraging one another,” Young said. “Every game is going to be a championship game, and now we’re playing for something bigger. So now we have to continue to focus on us and do what we do best.”

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.