Meadow Roland buried a turnaround jumper with 12 seconds left and UNLV survived 61-60 in Phoenix, on Wednesday night to open Mountain West play.
However, the finish came only after UNLV trailed 60-59 when Anisa Jeffries made two free throws with 18 seconds left. Then UNLV went back to Roland and she delivered.
Fourth-quarter rally flips it
UNLV entered the fourth down 48-41, but it closed with a 20-12 quarter to steal it on the road. Along the way, the Lady Rebels made 6 of their last 8 shots to finally turn momentum.
Jasmyn Lott led UNLV with 20 points on 9-of-18 shooting and went 2-of-2 from 3. Roland finished with 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting, while Shelbee Brown added 11 points and 9 rebounds.
Aaliyah Alexander scored 11 and went 5-of-5 at the line with 4 assists and 2 steals. Early in the fourth, her layup and free throw at 9:44 helped UNLV start the push.
Roland credits the prep and the reset
Roland said the staff drilled the late-game look earlier in the day and saved it for a moment like this.
“We worked on it today,” Roland said on UNLV radio with Wyatt Tomchek. “We were trying to keep it in the bag, just in case. We needed it, so we had to pull it out.”
After that, she pointed to a fresh start once conference play arrived.
“The message today was that we’re 0-0,” she said. “Today was the start of a new season.”
UNLV’s core four carry the load
UNLV got steady production from its core four. Lott scored 20 and went 2-for-2 from 3. Roland finished 7-for-8 and hit the go-ahead jumper with 12 seconds left.
Meanwhile, Brown posted 11 points and 9 rebounds. Alexander added 11 points, 4 assists and 2 steals as UNLV shot 50.0% from the field. For Grand Canyon, Anisa Jeffries scored 12 and Julianna Lamendola had 10 rebounds and 5 assists.
Up next for the Scarlet and Grey
UNLV heads home for two straight Mountain West games at The Pavilion. The Lady Rebels host New Mexico on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 1 p.m. PT, then return to face Fresno State on Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 12 p.m. PT. After that, UNLV goes back on the road to play at Air Force on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 12 p.m. PT at the USAF Academy in Colorado.
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