Lady Rebels fall short in exhibition

Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2000 | 9:48 a.m.

Regina Miller's demeanor after the Lady Rebels' 79-76 loss to the Chinese National team Tuesday night spoke volumes about how good she believes her team will be this season.

Although it was only an exhibition game, Miller did not look or sound like a coach whose team had just lost a game -- and this coming from a coach who absolutely hates to lose.

"We don't like to lose -- we don't need to lose -- in any situation," Miller said. "But if we can get better defensively, and we will bet better, we'll win a lot of games.

"I feel pretty good with (the players) we have ... and I expect us to pick up where we left off in the spring."

After winning 17 games for the second consecutive season, the Lady Rebels beat New Mexico in the opening round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament last spring and then nearly pulled off an upset of Utah in the second round.

UNLV nearly pulled out a win Tuesday night at the Thomas & Mack. With the Lady Rebels trailing 77-76, sophomore guard Constance Jinks dribbled the ball off her foot and out of bounds as she was driving for a potential game-winning shot with 2.6 seconds remaining.

China's Miao Lijie was fouled on the inbounds play and sank a pair of free throws with less than 2 seconds remaining to seal the win for the Chinese National team.

After playing China to a 29-29 tie in the first half, UNLV appeared sluggish to open the second half and allowed its guests to pull out to a 9-point lead five minutes into the second half.

"We struggled a little bit coming out of the locker room," Miller said. "We seemed to pick it up after the first four minutes of the second half and I think the first five minutes are the key.

"Either you play catch-up the whole second half if you allow the other team to make a run or you are able to get out, get a lead and make the other team play catch-up."

Junior Linda Frohlich overcame a 2-for-7 shooting performance in the first half and led the Lady Rebels with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jinks added 13 points, Dayna Gambill had 12 points and Viveca Lof added 10 points for UNLV.

Lijie, a 5-10 forward, led the Chinese National team with 28 points and six rebounds.

UNLV plays its second and final exhibition game Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack against the National Women's Basketball League's No. 8 Elite team.