UNLV women face tests on California trip

Friday, Dec. 12, 2003 | 9:57 a.m.

Sometimes, according to UNLV women's basketball coach Regina Miller, a simple approach is the best approach.

"Keep winning," Miller said when asked to summarize the Lady Rebels' game plan in Southern California this week.

So far, that hasn't been a problem for a UNLV team comprised mostly of freshmen and sophomores. The Lady Rebels are 4-1 heading into a Saturday night test at Cal State Fullerton and a Monday night date at Loyola Marymount.

Two more wins would give UNLV a double dose of confidence, which is always important to a young team. It also would keep the Lady Rebels on track for 20 wins, the plateau which NCAA bubble teams usually must attain to attract the attention of the NCAA Selection Committee in March.

Last year, that was exactly what the Lady Rebels were when they finished 17-12. A soft non-conference schedule reduced their all-important RPI (ratings percentage index) to 110, which wasn't nearly good enough to get UNLV onto the dance floor.

This year's non-conference schedule is comparable to last year's, but at least the Lady Rebels have taken care of business. They've beaten Centenary, San Diego, Richmond and Nevada-Reno, with their only loss coming at UCLA (61-51) on Nov. 23.

Miller said of the Lady Rebels' early victims, Richmond was probably the most impressive.

"Richmond was a very good win for us," she said. "They have one loss, to us, and they beat Florida, an SEC team -- the SEC is the best conference in women's basketball.

"So I think we have the potential to be fairly solid, provided we continue to improve."

As long as RanDee Henry and Sherry McCracklin continue to collect Mountain West player of the week honors, that shouldn't be a problem.

Henry, a 6-foot-1 junior who transferred from Detroit Mercy, and McCracklin, a 6-2 junior who was a mainstay on last year's team, each have earned the award once, with Henry enjoying the laurels this week after scoring 29 points on 11-for-16 shooting in the Lady Rebels' 90-75 victory against UNR last Saturday.

McCracklin, who has five double-doubles (points and rebounds) in five games, was the MWC's top player the previous week.

"You've heard of twin towers? Well, they're not towers, but they've been pretty good power forwards ... our twin pillars," Miller said. "They've been real consistent. Now we've got to get our guard play up to help them."

Saturday's game against winless Cal State Fullerton (0-6) at Titan Gym will be the 41st meeting between the teams, the Lady Rebels' second-longest rivalry. UNLV has dominated its old Big West foe, winning 32 of the 40 games.