UNLV’s Glaser had trouble playing waiting game

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, March 14, 2002 | 10:01 a.m.

For Petra Glaser, the waiting was the hardest part.

The 6-foot-6 sophomore from Amtsberg, Germany had to sit out eight games at the end of the regular season and at the start of the Mountain West Tournament after it was determined she violated NCAA eligibility standards while playing with professional players on a German club team.

That suspension ended last Friday when UNLV upset Colorado State 72-58 in the Mountain West tourney semifinals.

As the team celebrated on the court afterward, Glaser could be seen jumping around with a huge smile and hugging her teammates, many of whom had been wearing wrist bands with her No. 15 on them.

"It was very tough to just sit and watch during that time," Glaser said. "To just sit there and do nothing. It was a very helpless feeling."

Glaser played 31 minutes the following day in the Lady Rebels' 61-46 championship game loss to BYU, scoring four points on just 1-for-7 shooting while grabbing three rebounds.

"It felt good just to be out there again," she said. "I didn't really feel that rusty. I just wish it would have been a better ending."

"Just having her presence on the floor makes a big difference," UNLV coach Regina Miller said. "I think you'll see even better production and performance from her against Minnesota."

Glaser, who still earned honorable mention all-Mountain West honors despite sitting out the last six conference games, could play a pivotal role in Saturday's NCAA Tournament first round game against the Golden Gophers in Chapel Hill, N.C. Minnesota's 6-2 center, Janel McCarville, garnered Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors.

"I think it's a big relief for Petra that it's all behind her now," said All-American forward Linda Frohlich, a fellow German who had to sit out two games with Glaser while the NCAA looked into her background. "Now she gets to be a part of the team again. Even though she still got to practice with us and sit on the bench with us and everything, it's still not the same as being able put the uniform on."

"I just want to move on," Glaser said. "I'm just happy that I'll be playing in the NCAA Tournament."

Members of the school band and cheerleaders as well as UNLV athletic director John Robinson and other athletic department personnel were scheduled to join the Lady Rebels on the four-hour flight.

"It's good because you don't have to go through all the hustle and bustle of regular traveling," Miller said. "I think the players will certainly enjoy it and it's a nice reward for them. I also thinks it helps us in recruiting in that we can say, 'Hey, we charter ... some of the time.' "

Miller said the team would have had to split up and take separate flights if it had gone commercial.

"It would have been three here, seven there," Miller said. "We need to go as a team. You've got to keep your group together. It's good support from the university to step up like this."