Nzeukou comes long way with Lady Rebels

Sandrine Nzeukou has seen just about everything during her three years as a member of the UNLV women's basketball team.

Everything except a Mountain West Conference championship.

Though the Lady Rebels have traveled a more difficult road than Nzeukou ever anticipated, they have cruised to a 17-5 record this season and appear to have that elusive league title within reach. And that's the way the 6-foot-2-inch starting forward always envisioned wrapping up her career.

"For my senior season to unfold the way it is has been extremely fulfilling," said Nzeukou, who has endured her share of tough times with the team. "These past years have been so much of a struggle. We've just been trying to get it right and find the right mix of people."

UNLV, which has won seven of its past eight games, is off to a 5-1 conference start. Much of that success can be attributed to Nzeukou, who has controlled the post with sound fundamentals, aggressive moves to the basket and solid defense. The native of Yaounde, Cameroon, is averaging 8.5 points and 6.6 rebounds.

"She has made her game better," said UNLV coach Kathy Olivier, who nabbed Nzeukou out of Texas-Arlington after a disappointing freshman season. "She came back with a lot of confidence. She's stronger, more aggressive and even more of a leader."

Nzeukou attributed at least part of that improvement to the work she put in last summer as a member of Cameroon's national team. Though her squad failed to qualify for the 2012 Olympics, Nzeukou brought some valuable tools back to the UNLV in the fall.

"More than anything, the biggest change in international basketball is the physicality of it," said Nzeukou, who attended high school in Tucson, Africa, after leaving the west central African nation as a youth. "I've never been a physical player, so it was a struggle for me in the beginning."

But she has had a more physical presence in the paint this season, in addition to a number of less tangible gains.

"You can't just go into a game and expect to have 15 points and 15 rebounds when you don't do that in practice," Nzeukou said. "You have to work at it. Overseas, I really took that to heart."

With Nzeukou's help, the Lady Rebels will begin the second half of their conference schedule Saturday with high hopes of qualifying for next month's NCAA Tournament. But with the MWC in a down year, they probably will need to win the league tournament to qualify.

"That would be incredible," Nzeukou said. "People haven't seen us as a strong program. We have built it into a winning one, so a championship would just be so great."

Olivier, never big on rosy predictions, thinks her squad has a good shot.

"We have never won the Mountain West," the coach said. "We'd love to hang a banner. That would be huge."

But Olivier, whose team's only MWC loss came at home last month against San Diego State, warned that nothing is guaranteed.

"The reality is, we can't look ahead," she said. "We're playing really well, but we've got to continue taking one game at a time."

Nzeukou is willing to take her coach's advice, as she believes she's part of something that will last for years to come.

"This has been a long time coming," said Nzeukou, who is closing in on her master's degree in business administration. "I can see the future teams attaining not only what we have attained, but surpassing that."

The Lady Rebels will begin second-half conference play against Wyoming at 4 p.m. Saturday at Cox Pavilion.

Jeff Wollard is a freelance reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He can be reached at jwolly@aol.com.