Lady Rebels ‘ready to do more’ in 3rd straight NCAA Tournament trip

UNLV’s women’s basketball team has become used to hearing its name on Selection Sunday.

The Lady Rebels will appear in their third straight NCAA Tournament this year after winning the Mountain West’s automatic bid for the third season in a row.

No. 10 UNLV (30-2) will face No. 7 Creighton (25-5) in a first-round game at 4 p.m. Saturday at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.

The Lady Rebels are looking for their first NCAA Tournament win since 1991.

“Our drive this year has been stronger the past couple of years,” junior forward Alyssa Brown said. “We have a lot of kids that are determined. We’re ready to go.”

UNLV, ranked No. 20 by The Associated Press, has created high standards for itself under coach Lindy La Rocque.

The Lady Rebels have won the last three Mountain West regular-season and tournament titles. La Rocque, in her fourth season in charge of the program, said the team still shouldn’t take getting into the NCAA Tournament for granted.

“This is special, and it shouldn’t get old and routine,” La Rocque said. “It’s a privilege to continue to keep playing because there’s a majority of teams that aren’t. Having been there a couple of times now, especially some of our players that are going there for the third time are like, ‘Alright, we’re ready to do more and we know what it takes.’”

If it defeats the Bluejays, UNLV will face the winner of No. 2 UCLA and No. 15 California Baptist in the second round. The Lady Rebels are in the Albany 2 bracket, which features Iowa as the No. 1 seed and defending champions Louisiana State as the No. 3 seed.

UNLV was knocked out in the first round the last two tournaments. The Lady Rebels will carry that experience with them this year, as starters Kiara Jackson, Alyssa Durazo-Frescas, Alyssa Brown and Desi-Rae Young played in both losses.

La Rocque said having a veteran group has been important to help the rest of the team stay focused.

“We’ve had two different mindsets going into the last two tournaments,” La Rocque said. “So now we can kind of balance both of those to find a great balance of confidence and knowing that we belong, but then also having this chip on your shoulder of, ‘We still have to continue to prove everything.’”

Durazo-Frescas said the returners have had the same goal all season. They want to go further in the tournament.

“You can feel it (at practice), we were all more locked in,” Durazo-Frescas said. “We’re all playing with a chip on our shoulder. Like Lindy said, we’re not supposed to win this game but we know we can.”

Creighton finished second in the Big East. The Bluejays are appearing in their third straight NCAA Tournament. They made the Elite Eight in 2022 under coach Jim Flanery, who has led the program for 22 years.

“They’re veteran players who have played together,” La Rocque said. “You can tell by the way they play they are really connected offensively and defensively. It’s a really good team.”

Creighton starts five seniors and has three players who average at least 15 points per game. UNLV’s defense has played a major role in its current 15-game winning streak. The Lady Rebels will have to dig in on that end of the floor again to advance.

“It’ll come down to our defense,” La Rocque said. “In our last six, seven games and the last three weeks, our defense has been really good. We’re going to need that against a high-potent offense in Creighton.”

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