Short-handed Lady Rebels win third straight Mountain West game

Hampered by injuries, suspensions and academic ineligibility, the UNLV women’s basketball team knew it would need multiple players to step up Wednesday against conference-leading New Mexico.

First, it was forward Alyssa Anderson, starting her first game of the season and draining three 3-pointers in the first few minutes.

Then it was leading scorer Dakota Gonzalez, who had been struggling to find her scoring touch.

By the time it was over, the Lady Rebels had escaped with their third straight Mountain West victory, 56-42 over New Mexico at Cox Pavilion despite playing without two starters.

“It gave me a huge boost of confidence,” Anderson said of her early 3s. “I knew going into this game that we were undersized, we were a little bit down position-wise, so everyone had to step up. We had to rise to the occasion. We had to pull together. We just have to have confidence in each other and trust, and I think my teammates trusted me. They found me the ball, and I had confidence in myself and I put it up.”

Starters Katie Powell and Paris Strawther were in street clothes, situated behind UNLV’s bench serving one-game suspensions for their roles in a fight against Utah State on Saturday at Cox Pavilion.

The Lady Rebels (12-5, 3-2 MW) dressed only eight players and seven saw action, but despite being short-handed, they jumped to a quick start, outscoring the Lobos 23-8 in the first quarter. They shot 47 percent, including 63 percent from beyond the arc, during the quarter and never lost the lead, as they clamped down defensively.

“They hit no 3s. I thought we contested hard,” UNLV coach Kathy Olivier said. “They’re usually a 3-point shooting team. They like to get up and down. I thought we did a great job in transition ‘D,’ and then for them not to make any 3s, that’s great defense.”

New Mexico (8-7, 4-1) climbed to within 10 points in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Rebels staved off the comeback.

Anderson finished with a game-high 18 points, shooting 6-for-7 on 3-point attempts.

“In high school, I had a few (games like that), but college, this is my come-out game, and coming off my ACL surgery from last year, this was really exciting and just instilled a lot of confidence in me to come back and rise to the occasion,” Anderson said.

Gonzalez had 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for UNLV, and center Rodjanae Wade, also making her first start, finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. The two combined for 13 rebounds, giving the Lady Rebels what they needed in place of Strawther and Powell, two of the team’s leading rebounders.

“I thought Alyssa really stepped up starting, starting role, hit some big 3s early, defensively was all over the floor, and then RJ came in with a great start, got a lot of rebounds and put-backs,” Olivier said. “She just kept that ball high and made the bucket, and she just had a lot of confidence tonight.”

So, perhaps the two earned themselves more minutes off the bench.

“We always talk about being ready, always be ready when your number’s called,” Olivier said. “In the Mountain West, it’s just that type of conference. It’s grueling, so you never know if someone’s going to get injured, you never know if you need more depth.”

Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BetsyHelfand on Twitter.