Thursday, Feb. 24, 2005 | 9:31 a.m.
The main course comes second in this meal, as the UNLV women's basketball team faces conference leader New Mexico on the second game of this final road trip of the year.
That means the Lady Rebels must polish off the dessert cupcake - a chance to extend their win streak to four tonight at lowly Air Force - before digging into the bigger plate.
UNLV (14-10, 5-5) is certainly hungry to climb back into the Mountain West Conference race after sweeping a three-game homestand against San Diego State, Colorado State and Wyoming. Still holding onto the hope of climbing as high as third in the conference, the Lady Rebels must finally win a Mountain West road game after five unsuccessful tries this year.
UNLV coach Regina Miller refuses to let her team look ahead. She can pull a perfect example right off the film shelf too, citing the Lady Rebels' earlier ugly loss against the Aztecs that gave SDSU its only conference win this season.
The Lady Rebels ripped the Falcons (7-16, 2-8) in Las Vegas, 76-51, almost a month ago. Miller, however, said Air Force is tougher to beat at the academy.
"Air Force is going to be tough at their place," Miller said. "But hopefully, at home, we built some momentum."
Any momentum they can find will be necessary Saturday, as UNLV ventures to The Pit in Albuquerque to face the Lobos (19-4, 8-2). The Lady Rebels lost by four points at New Mexico last year, but handed the Lobos their first conference loss this year in a 63-60 victory at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The Pit, where the Lobos are averaging more than 10,000 fans per game this year, is a tough place to win, evidenced by New Mexico's current 12-game home winning streak. It gets even tougher for a poor road team like UNLV.
The Lady Rebels' only road victory of the season came on Dec. 4 at Detroit, an 82-49 win. Including the two neutral-court games in Seattle that opened the season, UNLV has won just twice away from Las Vegas this year, sporting an ugly 2-7 mark.
UNLV needs at least one win on this trip to avoid a difficult situation as it closes the regular season in next week's two-game home swing against Utah and BYU. Currently tied for fourth with Colorado State, the Lady Rebels need to finish at least fifth in the conference to avoid the Lobos, Utes or Cougars in the Mountain West quarterfinals.
With Wyoming a half-game back of the Rams and Lady Rebels at 5-6, the Cowgirls are still a threat to move up. Conversely, a road sweep could put UNLV in position to challenge the Cougars (16-8, 7-4) for third place in the conference next weekend.
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