‘She’s our anchor’: Young helps UNLV survive, keep streak alive
For the majority of UNLV’s 64-63 win against Fresno State on Thursday, it seemed like nothing was going right for the Lady Rebels. The game had all the ingredients for an upset.
UNLV went 2 of 12 from 3-point range, its lowest number of made 3-pointers in a game this season. Coach Lindy La Rocque’s team was also uncharacteristically poor at the free-throw line, making just 66 percent of its attempts.
Fresno State had the lead with 34 seconds remaining.
But there was one deciding factor. UNLV had junior center Desi-Rae Young. Fresno State did not.
Young made a mid-air touch-pass to sophomore guard Alyssa Durazo-Frescas for the go-ahead 3-pointer and then knocked the ball away on Fresno State’s final possession to secure the Lady Rebels’ victory.
“She’s our anchor,” La Rocque said. “She continues to deliver.”
Young was at her best on a night when many of her teammates struggled offensively. The reigning Mountain West player of the year scored a game-high 22 points on 80 percent shooting to go with seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block to help the Lady Rebels win their 14th in a row.
UNLV (23-2, 13-0 Mountain West) hasn’t lost since Dec. 18, and Thursday marked the Lady Rebels’ sixth straight win over Fresno State (8-18, 1-12).
UNLV is one win away from clinching a share of the Mountain West regular-season title. The Lady Rebels next play at Boise State at 1 p.m. Saturday.
“Teams are going up, and teams are going down,” Young said. “We don’t want to be the team that goes down. We want to continue to shine and continue to win.”
While Young’s scoring ability kept UNLV close, her passing and defense gave it the win.
Trailing by two points with 15 seconds remaining, La Rocque called a timeout after Young grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed shot by senior guard Essence Booker.
The play was designed for Young, a lob deep into the paint to allow her to gain position for a post shot, and perhaps an offensive rebound if she missed. But Young saw an opening as she came to catch the inbound pass.
Fresno State’s strong-side defender was cheating off the corner to try to help defend Young, so she touch-passed the ball — while in mid-air — to the corner. Durazo-Frescas was wide open and nailed the 3.
“She trusted me,” Durazo-Frescas said. “She had confidence in me. That really meant a lot to me, so I had to make that for her.”
UNLV still had some defense left to play with 12 seconds remaining. Fittingly, Young once again made the decisive play. She knocked the ball away as Fresno State scrambled for a final shot and then dived on the floor to fight for the ball as time expired to keep UNLV’s winning streak alive.
“She’s amazing,” Durazo-Frescas said. “She’s our anchor. She’s always playing like that. She’s very consistent, always averaging a double-double. It’s an honor to play with her and be on the same court as her.”
Sophomore Kiara Jackson added nine points for UNLV, making four of her five field-goal attempts, while sophomore forward Alyssa Brown had seven points and six rebounds. Booker had a down night offensively, scoring five on 2-for-13 shooting, but also had two assists and was plus-7 in 36 minutes.
UNLV outscored Fresno State 40-24 in the paint, thanks primarily to Young.
“We’re going to put this one in our pocket,” Young said. “We’re not giving anything back. We want to keep up the pressure and keep being aggressive.”
Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on Twitter.
