Lady Rebels stay hot, beat New Mexico

With New Mexico storming back, UNLV guard Danielle Miller knew she needed to make a play.

This wasn’t new to her. Just 10 days earlier, she nailed a 24-footer to force overtime at Fresno State, and her two free throws helped the Lady Rebels win.

Against New Mexico on Saturday, the Lady Rebels were trying to hold on as a 17-point lead had dwindled to four.

So Miller stepped up, or actually stepped back, and drained a 19-footer with 53 seconds left to help UNLV come away with a crucial 79-73 win at Cox Pavilion.

“You can’t take shots like that unless you take a lot of (repetitions),” Miller said. “Thank God my teammates believe in me.”

The rolling Lady Rebels (12-13, 9-5 Mountain West) not only knocked off New Mexico (15-12, 11-4), which came into the day tied for the conference lead, but they won their fourth in a row and sixth in the past seven. The Lobos had won eight games in a row.

UNLV’s hot streak comes with only two weeks left in the regular season. The Lady Rebels, who next host Utah State on Wednesday, also recently beat league contenders Fresno State and Boise State on the road.

“We beat everybody above us except for Colorado State,” Miller said, referring to 55-43 loss on Feb. 7. “I still feel like we could’ve beaten Colorado State.”

The Lady Rebels have gone from a season going nowhere to being tied with Boise State (17-8, 9-5) for fourth in the Mountain West with the opportunity to move even higher.

“These players stayed together,” UNLV coach Kathy Olivier said. “They could’ve given up. You hope a team doesn’t do that ever on you, but they continued to come to practice, they continued to get better, and now we’re on a little bit of a roll, so it’s kind of fun. This is now when it counts, right?”

This was truly a team effort, with all five UNLV starters scoring in double figures, led by Miller’s 21.

UNLV twice had opportunities to blow out the Lobos, taking four 11-point leads in the first half and then going up 61-44 with 10:49 left in the game, but didn’t hold the advantage either time.

“I think we’re playing very good basketball, but we cannot get relaxed,” Olivier said. “We’ve got to stay in tune with each other and in tune with what we want to do. We just got too comfortable.”

In the first half, New Mexico rallied to twice take the lead, but UNLV’s Brooke Johnson put in a layup with two seconds left for a 37-36 lead.

She also came through at the end of the first half Wednesday at Boise State, making a 3-pointer to give the Lady Rebels the lead for good. The freshman’s play has been a key reason for the current surge.

“I definitely like feel my confidence has gone up,” said Johnson, who had 11 points and eight rebounds against the Lobos. “I’m taking better shots, and I’m not rushing. I’m distributing the ball, so I feel like it’s helping out my team.”

Like at Boise State, UNLV built on the halftime edge, never losing the lead. But the game still got dramatic late, with the Lobos twice getting within four points before Miller’s late shot turned them back.

She made only 6 of 18 shots overall, but grabbed eight rebounds and had four assists. Miller showed why she’s not only the Mountain West’s leading scorer at 18.4 points per game, but probably the leading candidate for conference Player of the Year.

“She’s hit some really big shots this year,” Olivier said. “She’s playing so well on the offensive end and the defensive end.”

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