Lady Rebels on slippery slope to medocrity

Adam Candee

Thursday, Jan. 27, 2005 | 9:40 a.m.

Her voice is lost to illness right now, but even if UNLV coach Regina Miller could really yell at her scuffling Lady Rebels, what's left to say?

Either they finally beat a good team this year or their current three-game losing streak could begin to stretch pretty far.

Conference leader New Mexico (14-2, 3-0) arrives at the Thomas & Mack Center tonight, providing a chance to earn a quality win and break the worst skid in UNLV's brief history in Mountain West play. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.

By dropping their first three conference games -- road losses at San Diego State, Wyoming and Colorado State -- the Lady Rebels (9-8, 0-3) dug their first significant hole of a season in which they are beating poor teams and losing to solid ones.

"There's no panic, but I feel like there should be a sense of urgency," Miller said.

There is urgency to salvage respect in a season that began with a No. 22 national ranking in Street and Smith's preseason magazine. Injuries and inconsistent play are the maladies, but it goes beyond that for a Lady Rebels squad that seemingly plays to the level of the competition.

Against teams that Miller feels find extra motivation against UNLV, that is a bad situation.

"Everyone remembers (Jerry) Tarkanian and the Runnin' Rebels that won in the 1990s," Miller said.

The combined record of the nine teams UNLV has defeated is 65-91 (.414) and the average RPI rating for them is 198. The Lady Rebels are ranked 125th in the RPI and the only better opponents they have beaten are Texas-Arlington (99) and Northern Arizona (123).

The eight teams that have beaten the Lady Rebels are a combined 87-43 (.669) and their average RPI is 103 -- a number that goes up to 84 if you pull out UNLV's loss at San Diego State (241). This group includes three teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll -- No. 10 Minnesota, No. 12 North Carolina (which beat top-ranked Duke this week) and No. 18 Iowa State.

With those grim realities behind the Lady Rebels, Miller prefers not to look back.

"We can't get stuck in the past," Miller said. "All we can do is look to the next opponent and that's New Mexico."

Looking at New Mexico won't be much fun either. The Lobos have won four consecutive games and their only losses this year have been to Minnesota and No. 15 Texas. Twice nationally ranked this season, New Mexico also swept both meetings with UNLV a year ago.

The disciplined Lobos win with defense, leading the nation by allowing just 48.9 points per game. Opponents are shooting 34 percent against New Mexico, which ranks seventh nationally. That explains why the Lobos are 10-0 this season when scoring 59 or more points. They have also won 36 games in a row dating back to 2003 when hitting or bettering that mark.