UNLV women’s basketball turned Saturday’s Mountain West road trip into a runaway, rolling past Wyoming 82-53 at the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyo.
The Lady Rebels improved to 11-5 overall and 6-0 in Mountain West play. Wyoming dropped to 4-11 and 1-5.
First quarter, tone set
UNLV never let the game find a rhythm for the Cowgirls. The Lady Rebels opened with stops, hit early shots and built a 23-9 lead after the first quarter.
That cushion held steady into the break. UNLV led 44-26 at halftime, and Wyoming never got within single digits after the opening minutes.
Balance and ball security
UNLV’s attack came from everywhere, and it stayed clean. The Lady Rebels finished with 18 assists and only five turnovers, then turned Wyoming’s 15 giveaways into 19 points.
Meadow Roland led UNLV with 18 points and 12 rebounds in 22 minutes. Shelbee Brown added 17 points and 14 rebounds with two steals.
“I feel like the energy starts with us. If we do what we need to do, we get our rebounds, and it gets the team going,” Roland told UNLV Radio’s Wyatt Tomchek after the win.
UNLV also got a burst from the bench that stretched the margin for good. Sydni Summers hit 4-for-5 from 3-point range and scored 12 points in 11 minutes. Behind that shooting, UNLV finished 12-for-31 from deep and scored 28 bench points.
Pulling away for good
Wyoming got 16 points from Malene Pedersen and 16 points from Jane Rumpf, who also had 10 rebounds. Still, UNLV maintained the margin by continuing to score in the paint and limiting Wyoming’s second chances.
The Lady Rebels out-rebounded the Cowgirls 45-38 and scored 32 points in the paint. UNLV led 64-39 going into the fourth quarter, then pushed the advantage as high as 33 on a late Summers 3-pointer that made it 82-49 with 1:41 left.
“We always give her her props always, and just never doubt her, honestly,” Roland told Tomchek. “Never doubt her.”
Aaliyah Alexander finished with eight points and two assists. Destiny Leo scored six points on two 3-pointers, and Mariah Elohim handed out five assists as UNLV completed the road win.
Up next for the Scarlet and Grey
UNLV stays on the road for a Mountain West matchup at San Jose State on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. PT in San Jose, Calif. After that, the Lady Rebels return to Cox Pavilion to host San Diego State on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 2 p.m. PT in Las Vegas. Next, UNLV stays home for another conference game against Air Force on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 6:30 p.m. PT at Cox Pavilion.
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