UNLV Lady Rebels Lose Pace In Mountain West Standings With Loss To Wyoming Cowgirls

The UNLV Lady Rebels women's basketball team suffered a crucial loss last night on their home court to the Wyoming Cowgirls. Despite being heavy favorites, the Lady Rebs lost the game by double-digits by a score of 82 - 72. This was a win they badly needed to keep pace with the San Diego State Aztecs in the Mountain West Conference standings. They now find themselves two games back in the Mountain West and no longer controlling their own destiny.

With this loss, the Rebels drop to 11 - 3 in Mountain West play and 16 - 8 overall. The Wyoming Cowgirls are now 6 - 9 in conference play and 9 - 15 overall. This was a loss that UNLV could not afford on their home court. A loss like this is inexcusable when you're trying to defend a Mountain West regular-season championship. They no longer have any room for error this season. One more loss will likely end their championship dreams, especially if they fall to the Aztecs again.

Wyoming won this game in the second quarter when they outscored the Rebels by 12 points, 25 - 13. The Rebels' defense struggled in this one, allowing the Cowgirls to shoot 47% from the field (28 - 60) and 44% from beyond the three-point line (16 - 36). UNLV also had fewer assists (21 - 15) and more turnovers (16 - 13) in this game. It was a rough outing all around for the Rebels.

Meadow Roland had a monster game for the Rebels. The sophomore forward posted a huge double-double with 30 points and 12 rebounds, both of which were team highs. She also chipped in with five assists, one steal, and one block. It's a shame that UNLV wasted such a great performance from Roland. However, they had a lot of players with minimal contributions in this game.

The Cowgirls had three players score at least 20 points. That is something that can't happen if you're the Rebels and a good way to lose a game. Malene Pedersen led Wyoming with 26 points, with Henna Sandvik right behind her with 25. Freshman forward Jane Rumpf just barely missed a double-double of her own, scoring 20 points with nine rebounds.

Next up for the Rebels is the Grand Canyon Lopes on Saturday afternoon, back at the Cox Pavilion. They will look to bounce back in that game, which projects to be a much tougher matchup than Wyoming was. UNLV will have to be much better if they want to beat the Lopes.

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