Lady Rebels have date with 2001 MWC champs

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2002 | 11:10 a.m.

The UNLV Lady Rebels certainly know what it feels like to get stung in the Beehive State.

Since taking over as head basketball coach four years ago, Regina Miller is just 1-9 against Utah and BYU, including 0-4 on the road.

She'll try to change that starting Thursday night when the Lady Rebels (16-3, 4-2) take on two-time defending Mountain West Conference champ Utah (9-8, 2-3) at the Huntsman Center.

UNLV plays at BYU (12-6, 3-2) on Saturday afternoon.

"(Utah) has beaten a lot of teams up there," Miller said. "But this year I think we'll be more competitive with them."

The Utes defeated UNLV 74-43 last year in Salt Lake City en route to a 14-0 Mountain West Conference record and an NCAA Tournament berth.

Utah went 11-3 two years ago to win the inaugural MWC crown. You have to go all the way back to the 1975-76 campaign, UNLV's second season of playing women's basketball, to find the last time the Lady Rebels knocked off the Utes in Salt Lake City -- 72-61, in the finals of the Utah Holiday Classic.

"The last couple of years they've had some very good teams," Miller said. "But this is our strongest and deepest team since I've been here. They have a lot of key players back from last year's team, but they may not have as much depth as they've had in the past."

For that reason, Miller is hopeful her squad can play at an up-tempo pace and start strong.

"We have to start strong and finish strong," Miller said. "Utah is very tough to beat when they get you in a deliberate game. And hopefully we can shoot a lot better than we did last year up there."

With a good trip to Utah, the Lady Rebels could find themselves in a real battle for first place. Four of their final six games are at home, where they've compiled an 11-0 record this season.

"These next three games are very key for us," Miller said. "If we can survive this time on the road and come out ahead, we get to finish up with most of our games at home. And that would put us in good position to make some things happen."