UNLV WOMEN’S BASKETBALL FLIES PAST CONCORDIA 81-43
Lady Rebels finish the night with 23 assists on 30 made field goals
In its only exhibition contest of the season, the UNLV women’s basketball team jumped out to a big first half advantage and led comfortably for the rest of the night on the way to an 81-43 victory over Concordia on Monday night from the Cox Pavilion.
Five players scored in double-figures for the Lady Rebels, who played all 13 players on the active roster in the first half, and 11 finished in the scoring column. Leading the way was senior point guard Mia Bell, as in her first action since the 2011-12 season she led all scorers with 14 points. Alana Cesarz, fully recovered from this past January’s ACL injury, was next with 13 points and eight rebounds in 25 minutes of action. Amie Callaway came off the bench to post 11 points, while Réjane Vérin and Jehiah Cook both added 10 each.
UNLV’s defense was impressive throughout the night, holding the Eagles to just 26.9% shooting (14-of-52), while also holding a 57-37 edge on the boards. The Lady Rebels notched 19 steals in the game, leading to a 33-14 edge on points off turnovers. On the offensive side, the Lady Rebels shot 43.5% (30-of-69) from the floor, 36.4% (4-of-11) from three-point range, and 60.7% (17-of-28) at the charity stripe.
“I thought it was a great exhibition for us tonight,” said UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier. “It was nice to be able to play everyone, and for them to play a lot of minutes as well. We are doing some good things, but we still have some things to improve on, and we’ll be working on that before our opener on Friday.”
The outcome was never in doubt, as the Lady Rebels jumped out to an 8-0 lead. After Concordia close to within 8-4 on a pair of baskets, four straight Callaway points started an 8-0 UNLV spurt. A Cook jumper at 12:24 made the score 16-4. The closest Concordia came the rest of the way was 16-9 at the 9:48 mark. UNLV blew open the game with a 17-3 run at the end of the first half, and would take a 38-15 edge into halftime.
Following a Concordia basket to open the second half, UNLV ran off a 15-6 run. Four straight points from Vérin would give UNLV a 53-23 lead at the 12:55 mark, and the Lady Rebels slowly increased the lead over the rest of the contest to come away with the 38-point win.
UNLV opens the regular season on Friday when it hosts Santa Clara 4:30 pm in the Thomas & Mack Center, part of a double-header with the Runnin’ Rebels, who will play Portland State at 7:30 pm.
