Lady Rebels look for strong finish down the homestretch

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2002 | 10:32 a.m.

The UNLV Lady Rebels are 13-0 at home this season. And that would seem to bode well for the next two weeks when Regina Miller's squad first plays host to BYU and Utah and then the Mountain West Conference tournament next week.

The Lady Rebels (21-4, 9-3) face BYU (17-8, 8-4) on Thursday at 5 p. m. at the Thomas & Mack Center in the first game of a doubleheader. Charlie Spoonhour's Rebels host Air Force in the nightcap.

"We've got the next five games at home," an optimistic Miller said. "That should be a plus. Our crowds have helped us this year with their enthusiasm."

But Miller says it will be defense, especially on the perimeter, that will be key for UNLV on Thursday against the last team to defeat it. BYU handed the Lady Rebels a 72-61 defeat on Feb. 2 in Provo.

"We have to defend much better than we did at BYU," Miller said. "We didn't defend the 3-point shot, especially Erin Thorn. She hit the majority of her 3-point shots. I think she's one of the best 3-point shooters in the country."

Thorn, who is hitting 41.1 percent of her treys this season, ranks second in the Mountain West Conference in scoring (17.0 ppg) behind only UNLV All-America candidate Linda Frohlich (22.1). The Cougars lead the MWC in 3-point shooting (41 percent).

The Cougars also have a solid inside game led by center Jennifer Leitner (11.9 ppg, 8.5 rpg), the MWC's player of the week last week.

With 6-foot-6 sophomore center Petra Glaser out four more games while serving an NCAA suspension, the Lady Rebels will need strong games from Dishawn and Sherry McCracklin as well as Padra Strong in the post.

"We can't allow their inside game to outmuscle us," Miller said. "That's something I've talked about this week with Dishawn and Sherry and Padra. The last time we played BYU Petra defended the middle for us. So they have to step up and play good defense and rebound the ball aggressively."