Game day: UNLV women look to advance past Creighton in NCAA Tournament

Wade Vandervort

UNLV Lady Rebels center Desi-Rae Young (23) practices at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion Friday, March 22, 2024, in Los Angeles.

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Saturday, March 23, 2024 | 2 a.m.

LOS ANGELES — 

If the UNLV women’s basketball team has made one thing clear this week, it’s that they’re not just happy to be here.

Making the NCAA Tournament is old news for Lindy La Rocque’s squad. Now, the 10^th-seeded Scarlet and Gray are heading into their first-round NCAA Tournament matchup with No. 7 Creighton (4 p.m., ESPNews) with aspirations of earning the program’s first postseason victory since 1991.

Can the Scarlet and Gray play the part of bracket busters? Three keys to watch:

Star performance

Simply put, UNLV needs senior forward Desi-Rae Young to play like the dominant post player she is and has been for the past three years.

Young was unstoppable in 2023-24, earning her second Mountain West Player of the Year award by posting 17.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Creighton will undoubtedly tailor its defensive gameplan to slow her down, but Young and her teammates can’t let that happen.

In last year’s NCAA Tournament loss to Michigan, Young only took 12 shots and finished with 11 points and eight rebounds — a decent performance for most, but not up to Young’s superstar standards. UNLV has to get her the ball early and often and force Creighton to blink first.

Five-out

UNLV will get a taste of its own medicine on the defensive end, as Creighton is also capable of spreading the floor with shooters at every position.

The Blue Jays have three starters averaging more than 15 points per game, and five different players make better than 34% from 3-point range. It’s a diverse, efficient attack reminiscent of the one La Rocque has installed at UNLV.

While UNLV ranks 17^th in the nation in scoring at 79.2 points per game, Creighton checks in at 54^th with an average of 73.3 points.

“They’re very offensively potent,” La Rocque said. “All of their players can shoot the 3. They really space the floor, they can play a five-out offense, so we’re going to have our work cut out for us defensively.”

Point production

Young isn’t UNLV’s only all-conference talent, as junior point guard Kiara Jackson joined her as an All-Mountain West first teamer this season.

Jackson was the only player besides Young to start all 32 regular-season games, and she enjoyed a breakout campaign with 11.4 points and a team-best 4.7 assists per contest. She is also one of the team’s most deadly shooters, hitting at 39.5% from 3-point range.

La Rocque said Jackson’s ability to push the tempo is one of her most valuable assets, and her overall command of the offense could end up being the deciding factor in a close tournament game.

“It’s Kiara’s team,” La Rocque said. “We are only going to go as far as her and Desi take us. She’s our leader, our floor general. She’s a point guard and it’s her team out there, and she’s stepping into that and owning it.”

Who: No. 10 UNLV (30-2, 17-1 MWC) vs. No. 7 Creighton (25-5, 15-3 Big East)

When: Saturday, 4 p.m.

Where: Pauley Pavilion (Los Angeles)

TV: ESPNews

UNLV leaders

Scoring

Desi-Rae Young: 17.9 points

Rebounds

Desi-Rae Young: 9.1 rebounds

Assists

Kiara Jackson: 4.7 assists

Creighton leaders

Scoring

Lauren Jensen: 17.1 points

Rebounds

Morgan Maly: 6.6 rebounds

Assists

Molly Mogensen: 4.1 assists

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.