Coach Miller’s 200th career victory is just a road trip away

Friday, Dec. 2, 2005 | 8:12 a.m.

Regina Miller will earn her 200th career victory as a head coach if the Lady Rebels can sweep through this weekend's Contra Costa Times Classic on the campus of the University of California in Berkeley.

Miller, in her eighth season as Lady Rebels coach, picked up her 198th career victory in UNLV's 65-55 win over Tennessee Tech on Saturday in the championship game of the Lady Rebel Shootout.

Miller has forged a 138-77 mark at UNLV and was 60-100 in five seasons at Western Illinois. While at WIU, Miller led Western to one of the biggest turnaround's in women's basketball as the school went from 3-21 in 1992-93 to 15-13 the following season. Miller was honored as the Mid-Continent Conference Coach of the Year that season for turning around the WIU program.

Miller, who took over the Lady Rebels program in 1998, has never had a losing season at UNLV. Miller twice has guided the Lady Rebels to a 20-win season, including a 26-8 mark in 2003-04.

Jim Bolla, who coached the Lady Rebels for 14 seasons from 1982 to 1996, compiled a 300-120 record and is the program's all-time winningest coach.

UNLV (3-1) opens the Contra Costa Times Classic on Saturday against Albany (2-2) and will meet either host Cal (4-2) or Columbia (1-2) on Sunday.

On the Road

The Lady Rebels will play their next three games on the road as the National Finals Rodeo takes over the Thomas & Mack Center and, to a lesser extent, the Cox Pavilion for the next week.

But Miller said she didn't mind taking the Lady Rebels on the road so often.

"Five of our first seven games are away," she said. "We wanted to challenge ourselves early to see if we could win away from home, but you've certainly got to be able to perform at home, too."

Last season, the Lady Rebels struggled away from the T&M and Cox Pavilion, winning only four of 14 games on the road and at neutral sites.

The Lady Rebels are 84-23 at home under Miller, including 41-8 at the 3-year-old Cox Pavilion.

Also Noted:

By the Numbers:

1993 -- The last time the Lady Rebels scored 100 points or more in a game (103 points vs. UC Irvine, Feb. 4, 1993)

Brian Hilderbrand can be reached at 259-4089 or at bh@lasvegassun.com.