Monday, Nov. 8, 2004 | 9:15 a.m.
Don't smile until Christmas. Or at least until you come down from 21 turnovers in an exhibition game.
Lady Rebels coach Regina Miller carried out her version of the old school teacher adage after Friday night's 93-70 exhibition win against the West Coast All-Stars. Never one to mince words in her postgame talk anyway, Miller kept her team for close to a half-hour to address the shaky first 17 minutes of the game.
Now, UNLV outscored the All-Stars, a loosely assembled group of former college players, by 36 points starting from the final three minutes of the first half. But with a team picked to win the Mountain West Conference and expected to challenge for the school's second NCAA tournament bid in 11 years, Miller is setting a tough standard for her team in November.
"You want to come out and be as sharp as possible, but thank god this is not March," Miller said Friday.
And thank god it's not Sunday, when UNLV will open the regular season against Minnesota, a Final Four team last season, in the WBCA Classic in Seattle.
Early in Friday's game, it definitely looked like the first time the Lady Rebels suited up this year. UNLV did not score for almost five minutes, finally getting a point on a free throw from Sequoia Holmes, a true freshman from Mojave High who cracked the starting lineup.
The deficit grew to 14-1, as the starting lineup featuring just two returning starters showed its inexperience with sloppy ballhandling and reckless defense.
"We were a bit nervous, particularly some of our new kids coming out," Miller said.
UNLV constantly rotated lineups in the first half, with 11 players seeing action as Miller searches for combinations that will work until injured starting forward Sherry McCracklin (Achilles') and starting guard/forward Nikki Hitchens (knee) return from injury by December.
With time came calm, as the Lady Rebels arrived with three minutes left before halftime. UNLV went on a 15-3 run to close the half and take control of the game, and those two returning starters -- forward RanDee Henry and guard Sheena Moore -- led the way with 55 combined points overall.
Moore, the player being asked to make the biggest change this season, drained two 3-pointers and Henry put back one of her six offensive rebounds at the buzzer to cut it to 40-39.
"We just finally started playing defense," Henry said.
And it rattled the All-Stars, as the Lady Rebels scored 26 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half to take a comfortable 16-point lead.
Henry led UNLV with 31 points, 14 rebounds and five assists. Moore scored 16 of her 24 points in the second half and also gave out four of the Lady Rebels' 24 assists. That is what Miller hopes for from a pair of All-Mountain West Conference players, but for the coach, the real lesson is to be learned from the team's tough start.
Miller would like to cut the turnovers from 21 down by at least six per game, accounting for her team's pressure style.
"We're not going to play a lot of halfcourt basketball," she said, "so it's going to look a little sloppy right now."
Training a new point guard can also affect the situation, as UNLV is doing with Moore. A natural shooting guard, Moore is moving to the point at Miller's request. She is perfectly capable of running the point, but as Moore showed Friday, she is accustomed to moving without the ball to find shots.
Not what the team needs, Miller feels.
"Sheena understands as a floor leader that if she plays 34 minutes, I'd like for her to run the team for 34 minutes," Miller said. "Tonight, she ran the team about 25 minutes."
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