UNLV Lady Runnin' Rebels Get Key Home Win Over Grand Canyon Lopes

The UNLV Lady Rebels women's basketball team bounced back this weekend after a tough loss to the Wyoming Cowgirls. They knocked off the Grand Canyon Lopes in Las Vegas this weekend by a score of 74 - 65. This was a huge win for the Rebels before their showdown this week with the first-place San Diego State Aztecs. Beating the Lopes kept their hopes alive for winning another Mountain West Conference regular-season championship.

With this win, the Lady Rebs move to 12 - 3 in the Mountain West and are just two games back on the Aztecs for first place in the conference, and they are now 17 - 8 overall. Grand Canyon dropped to 8 - 7 in conference play with this loss and 9 - 16 overall. While UNLV still doesn't control their own destiny in the Mountain West, after this win, a win over San Diego State would make the final four games of the season extremely interesting.

Meadow Roland was the star of the game for the Rebels. The sophomore forward scored a game-high 27 points on 10 - 22 shooting from the field, 1 - 4 from beyond the three-point arc, and 6 - 7 from the free-throw line. She also chipped in with 15 rebounds, one steal, and one block. This performance also helped Roland win a fourth Old Trapper Mountain West Player of the Week award for last week.

Julianna LaMendola was the leading scorer for Grand Canyon. The junior guard scored 15 points in 20 minutes, while shooting 6 - 13 from the floor and 3 - 5 from beyond the arc. She also contributed with six rebounds. It was not an impressive offensive showing from the Lopes, who shot just 37% from the field. The only reason this game was close was that the Rebels shot just 39%.

As we mentioned earlier, next up for the Lady Rebs is a showdown on the road against San Diego State on Wednesday night. If UNLV can pull off the win, the final stretch of the season is going to be intense and a whole lot of fun. However, if the Rebels lose this game, it will, for all intents and purposes, kill any hopes of them winning the regular-season championship in the Mountain West and render the rest of the regular season essentially useless.

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