Lady Rebels pull off an ambush

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Feb. 15, 2002 | 9:48 a.m.

No Linda Frohlich.

No Petra Glaser.

No problem.

Despite playing once again without star forward Frohlich and 6-foot-6 starting center Glaser, the UNLV Lady Rebels found a way to pull off a crucial victory on Thursday night at the Thomas & Mack Center, stunning 17th-ranked Colorado State, 71-59.

It really wasn't that close.

UNLV (19-4, 7-3), which moved to within one game of the Rams (19-5, 8-2) for first place in the Mountain West Conference, led by as many as 25 points, 42-17, with 16:09 to go and cruised home for its first victory over a ranked opponent since a Jan. 18, 1994, win over Hawaii.

"(The upset win) says our team has a lot of character and desire and determination," Lady Rebel head coach Regina Miller said while signing autographs 20 minutes after the game. "We believed with good defense that we could beat this team.

"We displayed some good intensity on the defensive end and we disrupted their offense."

Indeed, with a smaller but quicker lineup, the Lady Rebels did an outstanding job of smothering Colorado State's shooters. The Rams, who connected on a sizzling 12 of 21 3-pointers in their earlier 62-57 victory over a full Lady Rebels squad in Fort Collins, were just 2-of-15 on their treys on Thursday night and didn't make their first one until the 14:43 mark of the second half.

"Their 3s just killed us last time," senior guard Kinesha Davis said. "We knew if we stopped their 3-point shots, that's pretty much all they have. And that's what we did."

The Lady Rebels also forced 24 turnovers, nine more than CSU averaged coming into the game.

Junior guard Constance Jinks led the way with the second double-double of her career (22 points and 10 rebounds), while Davis (14 points) and backup guard Talisha Mitchell (14 points) also stepped up to fill the scoring void created by the suspensions of Frohlich and Glaser.

Although it was known Glaser would miss eight games for violating NCAA amatuerism rules while playing for a club team in her native Germany, UNLV held out hope right until warm-ups that the 6-2 Frohlich would be cleared to play.

"We tried to get her back right up until 6 o'clock," Miller said. "I hope we know some more (today)."

UNLV athletic director John Robinson had seemed confident that Frohlich would be cleared on Thursday.

"We had a conference call (with the NCAA) in the morning and they wanted more interpretations and documents," Robinson said. "You think you're going to have an answer in the morning and then they want more documents. It can be frustrating. But I haven't given up yet."

Senior associate athletic director Jerry Koloskie has spearheaded the school's efforts to get Frohlich cleared. He has been getting up each day at 4:30 a.m. to contact NCAA officials when they first report to work in Indianapolis.

"If I waited until 9 a.m. our time, that's their lunch hour," Koloskie said. "You've wasted half a day. Plus you have to wait for them to call you back."

Robinson and Koloskie were keeping their fingers crossed that Frohlich would get cleared in time for Saturday night's game against Wyoming at the Thomas & Mack.

"We played for Linda and Petra," said Jinks, who like her teammates, put Frohlich and Glaser's jersey numbers on her shoes and sweatbands. "It was a win for them."

It also was a victory that could put the Lady Rebels over the hump with the NCAA Tournament selection committee -- provided they don't collapse down the stretch.

"That was the No. 17-ranked team in the country," Jinks said. "The NCAA can't hold us down no matter what they do. Maybe this will help them take notice about just how good a team we have out here."