Lady Rebels set to throw new look at Utes in semis

Friday, March 12, 2004 | 10:17 a.m.

DENVER -- It was just eight days ago that the Lady Rebels showed the rest of the Mountain West how to beat Utah on its home floor -- play tenacious man-to-man defense for 40 minutes (or however long it takes) and hit clutch shots and free throws when necessary.

The result was a 68-60 overtime victory that snapped the Utes' 27-game winning streak at the Huntsman Center and put the Lady Rebels back on the NCAA tournament bubble.

So now that UNLV has figured out the secret to dealing with Utah, one would assume that it would use the same game plan when the teams square off in the Mountain West Conference tournament semifinals today at the Pepsi Center.

But that's where one might be wrong.

"Defensively, we're not going to play man the whole game," UNLV coach Regina Miller said over coffee on Thursday morning, an off day for the women.

"I think they're expecting us to play our three-quarter (court) man-to-man the whole night, because that's what we've done all year. But our trapping zone defense has been very effective so we're going to mix it up."

The Lady Rebels used a 2-3 zone at times in Wednesday night's 60-57 victory against Brigham Young in the quarterfinals and it was effective, particularly in the first half, when it took the Cougars out of their flow. BYU shot just 29 percent from the field before switching to a post-oriented attack at halftime and shooting a blistering 68 percent (17-of-25) in the second half.

But Utah isn't nearly as big as BYU, so Miller believes changing up the defense may be the way to go, especially given that most of the teams that have beaten the Utes -- New Mexico, Oregon State, Montana -- predominantly play zone.

She said different defensive looks might also be the best way to defend Utah's Kim Smith, the two-time MWC player of the year.

A 6-foot-1 sophomore forward from British Columbia, Smith dazzled the Lady Rebels with a variety of short jump shots off backdoor cuts in a 72-55 win at the Thomas & Mack Center last month. She wasn't quite the same factor in last week's game, although she finished with 17 points.

Smith was as good as advertised in the Utes' 68-51 victory against San Diego State in the quarterfinals, sinking 8-of-13 from the field and 9-of-10 from the line for a game-high 28 points. She also pulled down 11 rebounds.

Sherry McCracklin, the Lady Rebels' rugged forward who did a nice defensive job on Smith in Salt Lake City, will probably draw her again, although Miller said she also would rotate Nikki Hitchens and RanDee Henry on the Utah star.

"If we can make her rush and play the way we want her to, she's just like any other player," Miller said. "But if you sit back and let her get into her rhythm, she's an outstanding player. That's why you need to keep them off-balance."

A win today would put UNLV in the tournament championship game for the second time in three years. More important, it would give the Lady Rebels their second victory in eight days against a Utah team that has a solid RPI of 40.