Lady Rebels launch season

Friday, Nov. 8, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

First-year UNLV women's basketball head coach LaDonna McClain inherited a preseason schedule that includes eight nationally ranked teams -- a daunting task for someone trying to rebuild a program.

Unfortunately for McClain, the exhibition season isn't any easier. The Lady Rebels open their season tonight at 7 at South Gym against a talented Slovakian club team that beat Loyola Marymount by 32 points Wednesday night.

Ruzomberok, which opened a two-week tour of the Western United States with a 97-65 victory over Loyola, features a 6-foot-5-inch center, a 6-3 forward and a 5-11 guard.

"They're big, they're fast and they play very well together," McClain said of Ruzomberok. "They don't necessarily run an offense -- I think running is their offense -- and I think it's going to be a really difficult test for us and certainly something I think we need right now. They're big, so they're certainly going to give us some challenges right away."

McClain said the game would be used an a measuring stick to determine how far her team has come in the four weeks since practice began.

"I look for them to be a very good team and one that will push us in all aspects -- and hopefully they will make us better," McClain said. "We're getting a real good look at our preseason (tonight). It's kind of nice that that's happening because it gives us something to go back and look at and say, 'Hey, this is where we need to be when we step up to the plate and it counts.'

"We may find out how good we're not for one night."

Although McClain begrudgingly announced a starting lineup for tonight's exhibition, she cautioned that it may not be the same lineup that takes the court when the regular season opens Nov. 23.

"I've been very pleased with the way we've practiced and right now, it's hard to pick a starting five," she said. "The kids are playing hard and it's an interesting race. You're going to see a lot of people play (tonight), we're going to try to work a lot of different combinations."

The Lady Rebels will open with a lineup that features Toby Girard and Karen Webster at guard, Taneisha Gossett and Celeste Taylor at forward and Angie Dye at the post. Dye and Webster are the lone returning players in that group.

Also returning from last year's team, which battled on-court and off-court problems in struggling to a 4-21 mark, are centers Nakia Jones, Summer Peterson and Liz Wolfe, forwards Marija Sladojevic and Amy Wunderlich and guard Loriessa Randle.

Joining newcomers Girard, Gossett and Taylor are junior-college transfer T.K. Strambler and freshman Thyre Brooks. Former Chaparral High standout Sarai Hoopes has transferred to UNLV after a year at Northern Arizona but will sit this year out as a redshirt.

Unlike last year, when the Lady Rebels dressed only seven or eight players for most games under then-head coach Jim Bolla, McClain will have a full complement of 13 healthy players for tonight's contest.

McClain said that the Lady Rebels have added a second exhibition game to their schedule. UNLV will host Jiangsu, a Chinese club team, Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. at South Gym.