UNLV denied WNIT bid

Spencer Patterson

Monday, March 8, 1999 | 10:06 a.m.

Lady Rebels coach Regina Miller cut short a recruiting trip to fly back into town Sunday, hoping her team would get the chance to practice today.

It turns out Miller could have stayed on the road.

Despite posting an unexpected 17-11 record, UNLV failed to earn a berth to the upcoming Women's National Invitation Tournament, officially ending the Lady Rebels' Cinderella season.

Nevertheless, Miller remained upbeat about her club's 13-win improvement from a year ago.

"To play in the WNIT would have been a bonus, but it doesn't damper anything this team accomplished," the first-year coach said. "We have nothing to hang our heads over. This team did some great things. They started to rebuild this program."

Miller said she thought the Lady Rebels had a "pretty good shot" at making the tournament's 32-team field until she watched the Women's NCAA selection show Sunday and saw only two Western Athletic Conference schools -- Colorado State and Southern Methodist -- among the 64-team bracket.

After the NCAA Tournament selections became official, the WNIT selected four more WAC teams: New Mexico, Rice, Utah and Brigham Young.

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