UNLV LADY REBELS 2018-19 SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED
First-ever meeting with Duke, potential three December games against Power 5 schools highlight this year’s slate
Coming off back-to-back postseason appearances and the first conference regular season title in 24 years, UNLV women’s basketball head coach Kathy Olivier had no plans in stepping back her team’s schedule for the 2018-19 season, as the Lady Rebels could play a potential 17 contests against teams that reached the postseason a year ago. The program’s 29-regular season slate was announced by the athletics department Tuesday.
“This schedule will make us better as long as we have excellent leadership,” said Olivier, starting her 11th season at the helm of the Scarlet and Gray. “We clearly love to compete against the best, and they are going to have their chance to face some outstanding teams this season. Our team knows it’s going to be a challenge, but they also realize that this will get us ready for a tough Mountain West conference. We will need the senior leadership the entire year for us to succeed against this type of schedule, and everyone will need to be ready to step up for us to compete for another conference championship.”
While UNLV will be challenged right from the start with three straight games against postseason teams, the early highlight of this year’s schedule will come in the month of December. The Lady Rebels begin the month with a home contest Dec. 1 against USC in the Thomas & Mack Center, part of a double-header with the Runnin’ Rebels who will follow with a matchup against Cincinnati. That will be followed by a trip to the East Coast, where the Lady Rebels will meet Duke for the first time in school history, with a Dec. 6 contest at historic Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Lady Rebels will also host the Duel In The Desert tournament for the second straight year, as the previously announced tournament will see UNLV host Hawaii before a potential second game against either Florida or former conference rival Utah.
UNLV will open the season at home Nov. 9 against Wright State, a WNIT participant from the Horizon League. After a road trip to UC Irvine, the Lady Rebels will host Gonzaga in its first trip to the UNLV campus on Nov. 17. The following weekend will be the annual Lady Rebel Round-Up, where UNLV opens the four-team tournament against UC Santa Barbara. The Thanksgiving tournament, which also features Dartmouth and Middle Tennessee, will run Nov. 24-25 in the Cox Pavilion.
This year’s Mountain West schedule format will again be 18 games, with the Lady Rebels facing eight teams home and away, and two teams just once. This year’s teams that UNLV will play just once are Utah State, who the Lady Rebels will face in Las Vegas (Feb. 2), and Fresno State (Feb. 9) in Fresno, California.
UNLV has perhaps the toughest opening two-game stretch in the league, with back-to-back road games at Colorado State (Jan. 2) and at Wyoming (Jan. 5) before returning to Las Vegas to face New Mexico in its conference home opener (Jan. 9).
The Lady Rebels, who shared the 2017-18 MW regular season title with Boise State, will face the Broncos twice this season, at home on Feb. 6, and in Boise, Idaho March 2. UNLV’s second bye of the conference season will be on March 3, before hosting Colorado State on Senior Night March 7. The Lady Rebels’ two games in the Governor’s Series, the all-sports competition against UNR, will be Jan. 30 in Reno and Feb. 27 in Las Vegas.
Another highlight during the conference season will be the team’s second Lady Rebel School Day, which is set for Wednesday, Jan. 16 against Air Force with a 12 pm start in the Thomas & Mack Center. Last year over 1,000 local elementary students attended the game after taking a tour of the UNLV campus.
This season’s MW Tournament will again be held in the Thomas & Mack Center. The first round will begin Sunday, March 10 with three games, and then four more games will be played March 11, and the semifinals at night March 12. The championship game will be played Wednesday, March 13.
The Lady Rebels return four senior starters, center Katie Powell (2017-18 All-MW), guard Nikki Wheatley (MW Honorable Mention), and forwards Paris Strawther and Jordyn Bell from last year’s team that finished with a 19-12 record, tied for first in the MW with a school-record 14-4 league mark and received an at-large bid to the Postseason WNIT. Five newcomers will join the Lady Rebels on the court this season: transfers Bailey Thomas (West Virginia), LaTecia Smith (Seton Hall) and Haley Bodnar Rydalch (BYU), Nevada Gatorade Player of the Year Justice Ethridge from Centennial HS, and point guard Kambrayla Elzy from Tulare, California.
Season tickets for the 2018-19 Lady Rebel season are now on sale, starting at just $65 for the 16-game home slate which includes December’s Duel In The Desert event as well. Fans can purchase at either UNLVtickets.com or by calling 702-739-FANS (3267).
UNLV Lady Rebel 2018-19 Non-Conference Opponent Briefs
Game 1 – Wright State
Friday, Nov. 9 – Cox Pavilion
2017-18 Record: 23-11 (WNIT First Round)
Series Record: First Meeting
Notes: This will be the seventh straight year UNLV has opened the season in Las Vegas, but the second straight in the Cox Pavilion since Kathy Olivier’s first year in 2008-09, after playing the previous five openers in the Thomas & Mack Center … UNLV will face a team from the Horizon League for the first time since a win at Detroit in the 2004-05 season.
Game 2 – at UC Irvine
Tuesday, Nov. 13 – Irvine, California
2017-18 Record: 18-14 (WBI First Round)
Series Record: UNLV leads 30-4
Notes: This is the fourth straight season the teams have met, and UNLV has won the first three, including a 73-54 victory over the Anteaters on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas.
Game 3 – Gonzaga
Saturday, Nov. 17 – Cox Pavilion
2017-18 Record: 27-6 (NCAA First Round)
Series Record: UNLV leads 1-0
Notes: UNLV won the first meeting between the two schools a year ago, with a 52-50 upset victory on Dec. 9, 2017 that snapped Gonzaga’s 10-game home win streak … Jordyn Bell tied the game with 27 seconds left and Katie Powell’s offensive rebound and putback with 25 seconds to go off a missed free throw gave the Lady Rebels the victory.
Game 4 – UC Santa Barbara
Lady Rebel Round-Up First Round
Saturday, Nov. 24 – 12 pm – Cox Pavilion
2017-18 Record: 12-17
Series Record: UNLV leads 28-8
Notes: This will be the first trip to UNLV for the Gauchos since a Dec. 30, 2001 contest that was won by the Lady Rebels 71-62 … UNLV won the last meeting between the two thanks to a buzzer-beating jumper by current assistant coach Mia Bell for a 46-44 win on Dec. 10, 2012 in Santa Barbara.
Potential Game 5 – Dartmouth
Lady Rebel Round-Up Consolation/Championship Game
Sunday, Nov. 25 – Cox Pavilion
2017-18 Record: 15-12
Series Record: 1-0
Notes: This would be the only the second game ever for UNLV against an Ivy League school, after a 93-46 win over Columbia in Honolulu on Dec. 29, 2010.
Potential Game 5 – Middle Tennessee
Lady Rebel Round-Up Consolation/Championship Game
Sunday, Nov. 25 – Cox Pavilion
2017-18 Record: 18-13 (WNIT First Round)
Series Record: MTSU leads 1-0
Notes: In the only previous game against the Lady Raiders, UNLV fell in overtime 85-82 in the consolation game of the Las Vegas Club Shootout in the North Gym on Dec. 6, 1998.
Game 6 – USC
Saturday, Dec. 1 – Cox Pavilion
2017-18 Record: 20-11
Series Record: UNLV leads 5-4
Notes: UNLV will host the Trojans for the second time in three years, while this is the third meeting in four years for the two schools … The Lady Rebels knocked off USC 77-66 in the Thomas & Mack Center on Nov. 19, 2016, which gave UNLV its first win over a Pac-12 school since 2003-04.
Game 7 – at Duke
Thursday, Dec. 6 – Durham, North Carolina
2017-18 Record: 24-9 (NCAA Sweet 16)
Series Record: First Meeting
Notes: The two schools have never met before in the sport of women’s basketball … This will be UNLV’s first trip to North Carolina since a 78-66 loss at No. 12 North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Dec. 12, 2010.
Game 8 – at South Carolina State
Saturday, Dec. 8 – Orangeburg, South Carolina
2017-18 Record: 12-17
Series Record: First Meeting
Notes: This will be the first meeting between the schools and first-ever trip to the state of South Carolina for the Lady Rebels … UNLV is 2-1 all-time against schools from the MEAC.
Game 9 – at Portland State
Saturday, Dec. 15 – Portland, Oregon
2016-17 Record: 19-13
Series Record: UNLV leads 1-0
Notes: The teams met in the 2017-18 season opener, and saw UNLV pull off a school-record comeback for an 88-80 overtime victory in Las Vegas on Nov. 10 after trailing by 21 points with five minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
Game 10 – Hawaii
Duel In The Desert – Rebel Division Game One
Wednesday, Dec. 19 – Cox Pavilion
2017-18 Record: 12-18
Series Record: UNLV leads 32-15
Notes: UNLV and the Rainbow Wahine last faced each other in the consolation game of the Bank of America Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu on Nov. 23, 2014, a 79-70 victory for the home squad … The last meeting in Las Vegas was a 67-54 victory by the Lady Rebels on Dec. 20, 2009 in the semifinals of the Duel In The Desert … This will be Hawaii’s third appearance in the Duel In The Desert after also appearing in 2017.
Potential Game 11 – Florida
Duel In The Desert – Rebel Division Consolation/Championship Game
Friday, Dec. 21 – Cox Pavilion
2017-18 Record: 11-19
Series Record: UNLV leads 1-0
Notes: UNLV opened the 1989-90 season with a 73-49 home victory over the Gators in the UNLV/7-Up Desert Classic on Nov. 24, in the only meeting between the two schools … The Lady Rebels have played a school from the SEC the past two seasons, Ole Miss in 2016-17 and Mississippi State in 2017-18.
Potential Game 11 – Utah
Duel In The Desert – Rebel Division Consolation/Championship Game
Friday, Dec. 21 – Cox Pavilion
2017-18 Record: 18-14 (WNIT Second Round)
Series Record: Utah leads 32-14
Notes: This would be a rematch of a 2018 WNIT Postseason contest between the two schools, won by Utah in Salt Lake City 78-68 on March 15 … Utah has won all three meetings between the two schools since the Utes left the Mountain West after the 2010-11 season, though two of the three games were in Salt Lake City.
