Lady Rebels accept bid to WNIT

The Lady Rebels will have to settle for snow boots instead of dancing shoes, but Kathy Olivier is just happy her team still gets to put on sneakers and take the court at this time of year.

While the UNLV women’s basketball team hoped to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament, that dream ended last week with a 53-51 loss to Fresno State in the Mountain West tournament semifinals.

The Lady Rebels got new life when they accepted an invitation to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament where they will play at Colorado on Thursday at 6 p.m.

“We’re excited to be playing in the postseason,” Olivier said. “We wish we were in the NCAAs, but this has a great field of really talented teams and we’re honored to be representing UNLV.

“We had a really good practice today. We’re ready to go.”

WNIT officials announced the 64-team field late Monday. UNLV doesn’t take postseason play for granted. The Lady Rebels last made the WNIT in 2012, suffering a first-round loss at Saint Mary’s.

This will mark just the second postseason selection in 11 years for UNLV. The Lady Rebels are 9-11 in nine previous WNIT appearances.

UNLV (22-10) finished third in the Mountain West. League mates Colorado State and Wyoming also have accepted invitations to the WNIT.

The Lady Buffaloes wrapped up a 15-15 season with a first-round loss to Washington State in the Pac-12 tournament. Colorado was 5-13 in conference play.

UNLV leads the all-time series 5-0, but the teams haven’t played since 1989.

“Our common opponents were Colorado State and Wyoming,” Olivier said. “They beat CSU and lost to Wyoming. We’re getting film and we’re prepping. We’re going to know about them by the time we practice (Tuesday).”

The winner of Thursday’s game will play the winner of a first-round matchup between Northern Illinois and South Dakota State.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @adamhilllvrj on Twitter.