Lady Rebels eager for first postseason game in 5 years

The adversity, the first real test, hit early.

UNLV point guard Nikki Wheatley went down for the season Dec. 19 against Oregon State with a torn meniscus.

The Lady Rebels had been rolling up to that point, going 8-1 with victories over Southern California and Mississippi. Including that Oregon State game, they then lost four of five, but got back on track and made a push to the postseason.

“This team has been tough throughout the year,” UNLV coach Kathy Olivier said. “We fought through adversity many times. They’re a very competitive group, and they know if something goes wrong, we can’t let that affect us. They all hunker down and do all they can to make it not be a problem. We’ve had 11 starting lineups, and we’ve had a lot of different people step up in different times, and that’s a big key for us.”

UNLV (22-10) will visit Colorado (15-15) at 6 p.m. PDT Thursday in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament in the Coors Events Center. The game will be streamed online at pac-12.com/live/cubuffs.

This is UNLV’s first postseason basketball appearance since the 2011-12 season. The Lady Rebels had hoped to go to the NCAA Tournament, but lost 53-51 to Fresno State in the semifinals of the Mountain West tournament.

“We felt like we gave that game away,” guard Brooke Johnson said. “We know we are a better team than what we showed in that last game in the tournament. Now that we have a second chance to show it, we’re ready to rock ‘n’ roll with it.”

Beginning with the injury to Wheatley, the Lady Rebels have come back strong from a series of setbacks and hope that experience will benefit them this week.

After an infamous on-court brawl with Utah State on Jan. 7, UNLV had to play the next game four days later against New Mexico without suspended Katie Powell and Paris Strawther. Also, Jordyn Bell sat out because of the concussion protocol. UNLV won 56-42.

On Feb. 11 at San Jose State, the Lady Rebels were without Johnson (knee) and Powell (shoulder), but Dakota Gonzalez scored 31 points in a 63-55 victory. San Jose State won the previous meeting 76-65.

“I think everybody comes together better than before,” Johnson said. “On past teams, if something went wrong, it would affect the whole team. This year, when something goes wrong, everybody tries to make things right again, and that’s helped develop the chemistry on the court.”

Now the Lady Rebels have another chance to not only respond positively to adversity but also to potentially make a run in the tournament and create momentum for the senior-less team for next season.

“It would mean everything,” Bell said. “We didn’t necessarily get where we wanted to, which was the NCAA, but the NIT is almost there. To get to the championship and possibly win would be amazing for the program.”

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Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.