Next two games crucial in shaping Lady Rebels’ season

Adam Candee

Thursday, Feb. 17, 2005 | 9:39 a.m.

New Mexico, Utah and even BYU are better teams than UNLV. Air Force and San Diego State are not.

That leaves Colorado State and Wyoming, this week's opponents for the Lady Rebels, as the main competition for control of the middle tier of the Mountain West Conference. As the regular season winds down, tonight's matchup with the Rams and Saturday's contest with the Cowgirls at Cox Pavilion will have huge impact on UNLV's seeding in the conference tournament.

Given the Lady Rebels' struggles against quality opponents, charting a path in Denver that avoids early games against the Lobos, Utes and Cougars is vitally important. Doing so will require avenging a pair of losses in which UNLV (12-10, 3-5) felt wronged.

In the Rams' 69-66 victory at Colorado State (13-8, 4-4), Melissa Dennett broke a tie in the final four seconds by scoring on an offensive rebound in the lane while being fouled and converting the foul shot. The Lady Rebels also squandered a double-digit lead in the game.

At Wyoming (13-9, 4-5), UNLV gave up the lead in the final two minutes to lose a defensive battle, 46-43. UNLV players and coaches are still quietly grumbling about the officiating in that one, as the Lady Rebels shot just two free throws in the entire contest.

UNLV recovered from its tough first half of conference play to begin the second time around with a 77-54 victory last Saturday against San Diego State. The Lady Rebels never let the Aztecs into that game, putting together a complete effort with the exception of 31 turnovers.

"If I'm not mistaken, probably everyone I played had a turnover," UNLV coach Regina Miller said.

UNLV senior forward RanDee Henry, who put up 18 points and 14 rebounds against the Aztecs, said the key to the win was the fast start.

"That's what we just kept talking about, that we needed to come out strong," Henry said.

A quick start tonight could knock out a reeling Rams squad.

Not only has Colorado State suffered back-to-back blowout losses, but reports have surfaced suggesting serious internal turmoil between coach Chris Denker and most of his players.

According to a report in Wednesday's Denver Post, 12 of the team's 14 players aired complaints about Denker, not only to the coach but to athletics director Mark Driscoll as well.

A pair of wins this weekend would send UNLV to an even conference record, putting it in excellent shape for its upcoming road trip to Air Force and New Mexico.

The Falcons are one of the worst teams in the Mountain West and the Lady Rebels are the only team to beat the Lobos thus far in conference play.