Lady Rebels look for sweep

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Nov. 30, 2001 | 10:48 a.m.

With a 4-0 record and a championship trophy from last weekend's Lady Rebel Shootout already in hand, it would be a fair to say Regina Miller's UNLV Lady Rebels are off to a good start in the 2001-2002 season.

But it could be a top 25 kind of start if they can sweep two more games this weekend in the Oakland Tribune Classic in Berkeley, Calif.

That's because the Lady Rebels open the tourney at 1 p.m. on Saturday against 13th-ranked Georgia (3-0), a perennial national power in women's college hoops.

"I think it will be a great test for us this early in the year," Miller said following practice on Thursday afternoon. "They have a great tradition. It will give us a true indication of exactly where we stand right now."

Where the Lady Rebs stand right now is in the "Others Receiving Votes" category in the polls. But a win over the Lady Bulldogs on Saturday followed by a championship win over either host Cal (3-0) or Central Connecticut State (0-3) on Sunday would likely propel them into the national rankings.

The tourney marks the start of a three-week string of games away from the Cox Pavilion. UNLV travels to Nevada-Reno on Dec. 9 and the University of San Francisco on Dec. 15 before returning home on Dec. 19 for a contest against Eastern Washington.

"Because of the rodeo coming to town, we'll be playing a lot of games on the road the next couple of weeks," Miller said. "So we try to get into a tournament and then play a couple of more games that aren't that far away. They're all just one-hour flights and we can be back in time for practice on Monday."

One potential negative of the four-game road swing is that Lady Rebel fans likely won't get to see star forward Linda Frohlich break the school career scoring mark of 1,892 set by All-American Misty Thomas from 1982-86. Frohlich needs just 50 points to break the record and could do it this weekend.

"I'm sure her main focus right now is to do what it takes to do to win the tournament," Miller said. "It would be nice if she could break the record here, sure. But she's really more concerned with winning games right now."