UNLV made massive strides in coach Barry Odom’s first year with the program, but the Rebels’ poor finish left things on a bit of a sour note.
Andy Yamashita
UNLV’s defense led the way in a victory against Akron on Tuesday at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Rebels saw an 18-point lead sliced to two in the second half.
UNLV led Fresno State at halftime, but a difficult third quarter that included three turnovers resulted in coach Barry Odom’s first Mountain West loss.
The top-seeded Aces have avoided their small-ball lineups and stretched center Kiah Stokes’ minutes against the No. 4 Dallas Wings.
The Aces lost for the third time in five games and saw their lead shrink against the New York Liberty to 1½ games for the No. 1 seed in the WNBA playoffs.
First-year coach Barry Odom and UNLV will host Bryant University on Saturday at Allegiant Stadium, a date he circled on his calendar when he was hired in December.
UNLV and other Group of Five schools are not among the Big 12’s preferred list. Instead, the conference is focused on Arizona, while monitoring Utah, Arizona State and even Oregon and Washington.
While the Aces have looked untouchable since the beginning of the season, the New York Liberty have overcome a somewhat slow start behind former MVP Breanna Stewart.
Wing Jackie Young, forward A’ja Wilson and guard Chelsea Gray combined for 63 points to spark the Aces past the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday at Michelob Ultra Arena.
The Aces completed the move into their new practice facility, the first of its kind in WNBA history, on Friday ahead of the start of training camp Sunday.
UNLV stormed back in the fourth quarter to beat UNR in Reno and finish off an 18-0 season in the Mountain West.
EJ Harkless, Jordan McCabe, Elijah Parquet and Cameron Burist will be honored during senior night when UNLV plays Utah State on Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
UNLV fifth-year guard EJ Harkless drew a late offensive foul, and senior guard Justin Webster had a season-high scoring night in a win over UNR on Saturday.
Two-time WNBA MVP Candace Parker announced Saturday that she will sign with the Aces in free agency. Parker won WNBA titles with the Sparks and Sky.
Guard EJ Harkless scored 20 points, all after the first half, but UNLV was beaten by San Jose State in overtime Wednesday night in San Jose, California.