Lady Rebels may receive consideration for WNIT

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, March 7, 2000 | 10:34 a.m.

All things considered, it was a pretty nice Monday morning for UNLV Lady Rebels coach Regina Miller.

Just minutes before she found out that star forward Linda Frohlich had been named the Mountain West Conference's Player of the Year, Miller heard from the folks who run the National Invitation Tournament.

"They asked about the possibility if we would have any interest (in playing in the NIT) if we didn't make it into the NCAA Tournament," Miller said. "Of course I said yes. We would always like to play in the postseason."

The Lady Rebels haven't had a postseason berth since 1994 when they lost to Montana, 77-67, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

So UNLV (16-11), winner of its last five games, definitely has something to play for in this week's Mountain West Conference Tournament, which begins for the Lady Rebels with a 6 p.m. game Wednesday against New Mexico (18-9).

Because the MWC doesn't have an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, it would be a real long shot for the Lady Rebels to be invited to March Madness even if they were to win this week's tourney.

"We would have to win out to even have a huge bubble for the NCAA," Miller said.

That's what makes Monday's phone call from the NIT folks even more exciting.

"I think its important that we perform well in the tournament," Miller said when asked what she thought it would take get an NIT invite.

There won't be much room for error.

If the fifth-seeded Lady Rebels are fortunate enough to win their third game of the year over the fourth-seeded Lobos, conference champion Utah (20-7) will likely be waiting in Friday afternoon's semifinal round.

"I think the four-five game is probably the toughest game of the tournament," Miller said. "As they always say, it's tough to beat a team three times. But we look at this as a new season."

UNLV defeated New Mexico 55-51 on Jan. 22 at The Pit and 65-50 on Feb. 19 at the Thomas & Mack. Those were two of the Lobos' three lowest point totals of the season.

* REBEL NOTES: The selection of the 6-2 Frohlich as MWC Player of the Year was a no-brainer. The sophomore from Oldendorf, Germany, leads the conference in scoring (21.9 ppg), rebounding (11.3 rpg) and steals (3.3). "She's head and shoulders above everybody else in this league," New Mexico coach Don Flanagan said. ... Frohlich becomes the third Lady Rebel to notch conference player of the year honors. Misty Thomas was selected Big West Player of the Year in 1984-85 while Pauline Jordan was Big West co-Player of the Year in 1989-90. ... Freshman guard Constance Jinks made the all-newcomer squad. Utah's Elaine Elliott was named coach of the year.