Lady Rebels have incentive tonight at Air Force

Thursday, Jan. 29, 2004 | 10:08 a.m.

It's the calm before the storm for the red-hot Lady Rebels, who return to Mountain West Conference play tonight at Air Force and Saturday at New Mexico, where a sellout crowd of 18,000-plus is expected to greet them at the raucous Pit.

By contrast, other than a few leather-lunged Cadets exercising their vocal chords, Clune Arena will be a tad on the sedate side tonight when the Lady Rebels (14-2, 3-0 MWC) and Falcons (3-13, 0-3) tip off.

But you don't need to remind UNLV coach Regina Miller that the lowly Falcons aren't capable of quietly going about their business. That's what happened in Colorado Springs last year, when Shawna Neff's layup with 11 seconds to go lifted Air Force to a stunning 73-72 victory, its first ever against the Lady Rebels.

"They might not have 18,000 people yelling at you, but some of those cadets (can make a lot of noise)," Miller said.

"They beat us last year, so that will give us a little extra incentive. We've got to play better than we did last year, but I think we'll be ready. Now that we're on the road after three weeks at home, we need to keep building momentum."

UNLV is one of two undefeated teams in the Mountain West (Utah is also 3-0) and is riding a nine-game winning streak. All but two of the Lady Rebels' 14 wins have been by 10 points or more, as their plus 14.3 scoring margin leads the conference. UNLV received 14 notes in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Air Force, as usual, has struggled. The Falcons will be trying to break a seven-game losing skid at the Lady Rebels' expense and were held to under 30-percent shooting in lopsided losses at Utah and Brigham Young last week.

While it's never a good idea to look ahead, UNLV newcomers such as RanDee Henry, the Mountain West's leading scorer with a 19.4 average, said they've heard much more about New Mexico's passionate fans than they have the Air Force players.

"I haven't been on the road in the league," said Henry, a transfer from Detroit Mercy who is coming off a 33-point, 13-rebound effort in the Lady Rebels' 67-47 victory against Wyoming at Cox Pavilion Saturday. "But I heard New Mexico is crazy. I heard it is an awesome experience, to play at New Mexico in front of all of those fans.

"But Air Force is a team you can't overlook, because those are the type of teams that always catch you slippin'. So we have to be focused going into both games."