Matthew Hinton / AP
UNLV head coach Lindy La Rocque reacts in the first half of a first-round college basketball game against Michigan in the women’s NCAA Tournament in Baton Rouge, La., Friday, March 17, 2023.
Monday, March 11, 2024 | 2:30 p.m.
The UNLV women’s basketball team began its quest for a third straight Mountain West tournament championship on Monday, dispatching Fresno State, 83-35, at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Lindy La Rocque’s squad has now won 13 straight games.
UNLV worked through a slow start on offense and built a 17-13 lead in the final seconds of the first quarter. With four seconds on the clock, junior guard Kiara Jackson came up with a steal in the backcourt and beat the buzzer with a 12-foot floater.
The sequence gave UNLV momentum heading into the second quarter, as the Scarlet and Gray opened on an 11-0 run to distance themselves from the overmatched No. 9 seed.
Jackson credited freshman guard Amarachi Kimpson for helping to force the turnover and late bucket.
“Rachi was playing great defense,” Jackson said. “She made her cough it up and I was right there, and I was like, ‘Oh shoot, I’ve gotta shoot it.’”
Kimpson powered UNLV in the second quarter, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers to extend the lead. She came off the bench to score 10 in the first half, and UNLV carried a 44-20 advantage into the halftime break.
UNLV continued its scorching pace in the second half, pushing the lead to 69-28 at the end of the third.
For the game, UNLV made 12-of-21 from 3-point range and shot 51.9% overall.
Recently crowned Mountain West Player of the Year Desi-Rae Young sat out the fourth quarter as UNLV kept the margin above 40 points. Young finished with 10 points and six rebounds in 22 minutes.
Kimpson finished with 16 points, tying her with forward Alyssa Brown for top scoring honors. Jackson scored 15 while posting four assists and three steals.
The victory marked the 100th for La Rocque as a coach. Now 100-21 at UNLV, she’s also the first coach in Lady Rebel history to earn 100 wins in just her first four seasons.
La Rocque and her crew advance to Tuesday’s MWC semifinals, where they will face either No. 4 seed UNR or No. 5 Colorado State.
Count Fresno State coach Jaime White as a UNLV believer, as she ended her postgame press conference by touting the Scarlet and Gray’s NCAA Tournament chances.
“I like Lindy and I’m impressed with what they’ve done,” White said. “It’s time for them to get past that first round. It’s time for our league to get past that first round in women’s basketball. So I’m going to be cheering for them.”
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
