Jan. 16, 2001

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STORYLINE: The UNLV Lady Rebels (11-3, 1-1) go on the road for the first time in 39 days this week when they head to Albuquerque, N.M., to face New Mexico (10-6, 1-1) on Thursday, Jan. 18, in the Rebels' first MWC road game of the season ... The game will be the first of two on the road swing as UNLV heads north from Albuquerque to Colorado Springs, Colo., to play at Air Force (3-11, 0-1) ... UNLV's last road game was on Dec. 9, 2000 at Eastern Washington ... The game against New Mexico will settle a three-way battle for third place in the MWC standings ... At 11-3, the Rebels are off to their best start since the 1993-94 season when the team rolled out to a 16-3 record ... UNLV will play its first day game on Saturday with tip at Air Force slated for 2:00 p.m. ... The Rebels are a perfect 7-0 on Saturdays this season.

LADY REBELS ON THE AIR: All Lady Rebel games are broadcast in Las Vegas on KENO 1460 AM and throughout the world on unlvrebels.com. Returning for his 14th season as the Voice of the Lady Rebels, Bob Blum, the dean of West Coast broadcasters, will deliver the play-by-play. Joining him courside will be Lady Rebel SID Kevin Force, who handles the color commentary for all road games.

TRAVEL PLANS: UNLV will depart Las Vegas from the Thomas & Mack Center at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 17, and arrive in Albuquerque, N.M., on Southwest flight #1048 at 10:15 a.m. MST. While in Albuquerque, the team will be staying at the Albuquerque Marriott, (505) 872-6959. The team will arrive in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Friday, Jan. 19, on United flight #1100 at 10:40 a.m. While there, the team will stay at the Wyndham Colorado Springs, (719) 260-1800. The team will return to Las Vegas immediately following Saturday's game on United flight #7020 and arrive at 10:52 p.m. PST.

THE LADY REBELS: UNLV (11-3, 1-1) returns 11 letterwinners and four starters from last season's 17-12 team that finished fifth in the inaugural season of the Mountain West Conference ... The Rebels split its pair of games during the opening week of MWC play, falling to No. 23 Utah, 70-51, and knocking off BYU, 61-50 ... Head coach Regina Miller is in her third season with the Lady Rebels and has a record of 45-26 (.634) ... Miller collected her 100th career victory as a head coach in the win over Eastern Washington ... UNLV is led by Linda Fr?hlich, who leads the MWC in scoring with 18.5 ppg and in rebounding with 8.1 rpg.

ABOUT NEW MEXICO: New Mexico (10-6, 1-1) won its only game last week, 68-44, at Air Force ... The Lobos only blemish in league play was a 76-73 loss to then-No. 25 Utah in both teams' conference opener ... The Lobos return 10 letterwinners and four starters from last season's 18-11 team that finished tied for third in the Mountain West Conference with a 9-5 mark and went to the WNIT ... They are coached by Don Flanagan, who has a 110-56 (.663) record in his sixth season at UNM ... Sophomore center Jordan Adams leads the Lobos and ranks third in the MWC in scoring at 16.2 ppg and in rebounding with 6.6 rpg.

NEW MEXICO SERIES NOTES: UNLV leads the series, 13-4, including the last three, all of which came last season ... The Rebels swept the regular season series last year, winning 55-51 at The Pit and taking a 65-50 win in Las Vegas ... UNLV completed the trifecta with a last-second, 52-50 win in the first round of the MWC Tournament ... The series began in 1974-75, the Rebels' first season of competition, with UNLV taking a 71-64 victory ... UNLV won the first seven contests ... The teams played twice in 1997-98, with UNM winning the only meetings as members of the Western Athletic Conference ... While the UNLV roster features no players from the Land of Enchantment, the Lobos' Jordan Adams hails from nearby Overton, Nev. ... Senior forward Jamie Roberts was a junior college teammate of UNLV's Marenna Nyffeler at Utah Valley State College in Orem, Utah.

ABOUT AIR FORCE: Air Force (3-11, 0-1) lost its MWC opener against New Mexico, 68-44 last week ... The Falcons return six letterwinners and two starters from last season's 4-24 team that finished eighth in the Mountain West Conference with a 1-13 mark ... They are coached by Sue Darling, who has a 12-56 (.176) record in her third season at AFA ... Junior forward Rozalyn Russ leads the Falcons in scoring at 11.3 ppg and in rebounding with 6.6 rpg.

AIR FORCE SERIES NOTES: UNLV leads the series, 7-1, that began in 1996-97 when both schools belonged to the WAC ... The Falcons won the first meeting, 67-62, but have lost the last seven ... The teams played six times as WAC rivals ... The Rebels' two largest margins of victory last season both came against AFA, a 33-point win in Colorado Springs and a 30-point triumph in Las Vegas.

WITH THE BALL: Through 13 games, UNLV is averaging just less than 70 points per game which ranks third in the MWC ... The Rebels lead the league in field goal percentage, shooting .452 (356-788) from the field and rank second in three-point shooting perecentage at .385 (55-143) ... Six Rebels (Fr?hlich, Gambill, Gl?ser, Ingalls, Johansson and Jinks) are shooting 75 percent or better from the line ... Utah held the Rebels to a season-low 29.3 percent from the floor ... UNLV's victory over UC Irvine on Jan. 6 was the 10th of the season and marked the earliest in a season that UNLV had won its 10th game since defeating Pacific, 64-54, on Jan. 2, 1991 to improve to 10-0 ... The Rebels' 37-point win over Prairie View A&M was the team's largest margin of victory since the Rebels posted a 92-49 win at UC Irvine in the 1993-94 season ... Against Pacific, Linda Fr?hlich broke the school record for single-game shooting percentage, connecting on 16-of-17 (.941) field goals for a season-high 37 points. In just 30 minutes, Fr?hlich was three points shy of a career high and seven points shy of the school record ... Dayna Gambill dished a then-career-high 10 assists against Pacific, just four short of the school record of 14. Five days later, she broke her career high again, handing out 11 scoring chances against Nevada, Reno while turning the ball over only three times. Not only does she again lead the team in assists with 61(5.5 apg), but has increased her scoring output to 8.5 ppg, up from a 5.6 ppg average last season ... UNLV shot a season-best .870 (20-23) from the line against Cal State Northridge ... Constance Jinks has scored in double figures in five of the last six games and topped the 20-point mark in two of the last three, scoring 22 against UC Irvine and 20 against Utah ... Kinesha Davis broke out for a season-best 16 points against BYU on 6-of-8 shooting and needs only 19 points to achieve 1,000 for her career.

DEFENDING THE POST: The Lady Rebels are doing it with defense this season. They have allowed only two opponents to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor in a game and have lost both games, while only six of their 14 foes have topped the 40 percent shooting mark. Four of the Rebels' last five opponents have been held under 40-percent shooting ... The Rebels are forcing more than 20 turnovers per game and rank second in the MWC in turnover margin (+2.36). At least five times against BYU, UNLV forced a turnover by denying the Cougars a shot before the 30-second clock expired ... UNLV also ranks third in the MWC with 9.07 steals per game ... Linda Fr?hlich ranks atop the MWC in rebounding with 8.1 rpg and averages nearly 6.0 defensive boards each game ... Brooke Ingalls pulled down a career-high 11 boards against Cal State Northridge to record her first-ever double-double ... The Rebels stole the ball a season-high 16 times from Pacific ... Viveca L?f posted the league's top rebounding game this season with 16 boards against Arkansas-Pine Bluff ... The addition of some front line height has also caused a swell in the Rebels' block totals. UNLV has 39 blocked shots in 14 games and didn't record its 39th block until the 18th game of last year. Linda Fr?hlich leads the team and ranks fourth in the MWC with 14 blocks, followed by Petra Gl?ser's eight and Viveca L?f's five.

UNLV RECEIVES VOTES IN AP POLL: The Lady Rebels made their third appearance in the Associated Press poll, receiving one vote on Jan. 1. However, that vote was lost in the Jan. 8 poll despite UNLV's 70-56 victory over UC Irvine in its only appearance last week. UNLV received three votes in the 2000-01 Preseason poll, tying them with Stephen F. Austin for 45th. After losing the three votes without playing a game, the Rebels reclaimed two of the votes in the Dec. 4 poll and tied for 49th. Those votes were lost in the week following a loss at No. 27 Arizona. The Associated Press poll ranks only the top 25 teams, but includes all other teams that also received votes. UNLV has not been ranked among the top 25 since Jan. 18, 1994, when the Lady Rebels ranked 25th with a 10-2 overall record.

ON THE TUBE: Both of UNLV's games last week were shown throughout the Las Vegas valley on KTUD Channel 25/Cable 14 on tape delay. Three times this season the Las Vegas UPN affiliate has broadcast the Lady Rebels from the Thomas & Mack Center, and it plans to show at least one more contest, UNLV's Feb.1 matchup against Colorado State.

LADY REBELS RETURN TO THE THOMAS & MACK: After rolling to a 10-5 record in its first full season at the Thomas & Mack Center, UNLV is happy to return to the venue in 2000-01. The Lady Rebels are 8-2 at home this season and own an all-time record of 93-31 (.750) in the Mack, in the arena's 18th season of basketball. This will be the last season that the Lady Rebels play in the Mack with the new 3,300-seat Cox Pavilion set to open next year.

PACKING THE MACK: The voters aren't the only ones who have noticed the improved play out of the Lady Rebels. A season-best 1,277 fans rolled in to watch UNLV host defending conference champ Utah on Jan. 11. In 10 home games this season, UNLV has averaged 763 fans per game. That is up nearly 40 percent from last year, an average of 200 more fans per game. The Rebels have five more games scheduled at home before hosting the Mountain West Conference Tournament in March.

MAKING THE PASS: One reason that UNLV's offense has been so successful this season is that players are making the extra pass when necessary. The Lady Rebels lead the Mountain West Conference in assists this season, averaging 17.2 dishes per game, and 68 percent of their buckets have come off of a pass (241 assists on 356 field goals). Individually, Dayna Gambill ranks second in the MWC in total assists (65), assists per game (5.0) and assist/turnover ratio (1.79). Linda Fr?hlich also ranks among the league leaders, checking in at third with a 4.09 apg average and 10th with a 1.10 assist/turnover ratio.

FR?HLICH CLIMBS THE CHARTS: Linda Fr?hlich is steadily climbing the UNLV career lists for both scoring and rebounding. The junior forward entered the season with 1,261 career points and has added 188 this season for a total of 1,464 which ranks her seventh in school history. She needs just 41 points to surpass Gwynn Hobbs in sixth place. The All-American also has pulled down 666 rebounds in her career, which ranks 10th all-time. She needs just 23 more rebounds to surpass Merlelynn Lange in ninth place.

DAVIS NEARS MILESTONE: With 105 points this season, Kinesha Davis is closing in on 1,000 career points. She registered most of that total as a freshman at Western Illinois in 1997-98, breaking the Mid-Continent Conference freshman scoring record with 504 points. She tacked on another 372 points as a UNLV sophomore last season and needs just 19 more points to achieve the coveted milestone. She would become the second active Lady Rebel with 1,000 career points, as Linda Fr?hlich reached that mark last season.

AWARDS ABUNDANT AT TOURNAMENTS: Not only did the Lady Rebels win their home tournament for the first time since the 1993-94 season, but they managed to walk away with all the hardware, too. Sophomore Constance Jinks was honored as the tourney's most valuable player after scoring 18 and 17 points in respective games. Freshman Petra Gl?ser and junior Kinesha Davis both earned all-tournament nods for their role in helping UNLV to the title. One week later, UNLV repeated by winning the Roger L. White Invitational in Evanston, Ill., and Jinks repeated by claiming MVP kudos after scoring a career-high 33 in the championship game. Junior Linda Fr?hlich was chosen as an all-tournament honoree.

TEAM OF THE WEEK?: Eight times this season the Mountain West Conference has honored the league's top player for each week, and THREE of those times a Rebel has captured the award. After Constance Jinks captured back-to-back tournament MVPs, the 5-7 guard from Chicago was selected as the MWC Player of the Week on Dec. 4, becoming only the second Lady Rebel to earn the honor. One week later, freshman Petra Gl?ser added her name to the list, claiming the honor on Dec. 11. Gl?ser scored a career-high 21 against Arizona and followed that performance with a 8-for-9 shooting night from the floor against Eastern Washington. A scheduling break which allowed the Lady Rebels 10 days off to concentrate in final exams prevented a three-peat as UNLV did not play over that span. However, when the next award was announced on Jan. 3, it went to Linda Fr?hlich for her school-record setting performance against Pacific. It was the fourth time in her career she had been so honored.

MILLER REACHES CENTURY MARK IN WINS: UNLV head coach Regina Miller achieved a coveted career milestone in the Rebels' victory over Eastern Washington -- her 100th victory. Miller now has an overall coaching record of 105-126 in her ninth season as a head coach, including a 60-100 mark compiled in six seasons at Western Illinois, and is 45-26 in her third season at UNLV.

UCSB GAME CANCELED: The Lady Rebels' Jan. 3 game at UC Santa Barbara was canceled due to a scheduling error by the Gauchos and will not be played. UNLV will play 26 regular season games.

ALL-UMLAUT TEAM: One statistic that the Lady Rebels are almost guaranteed to lead the country in this season is umlauts. An umlaut is a vowel sound caused by partial assimilation occurring in the following syllable and is indicated with a pair of dots over the vowel. After having just one umlaut in both of the last two seasons, the Lady Rebels are up to three on this year's roster: senior Viveca L?f, junior Linda Fr?hlich and freshman Petra Gl?ser.

IN THE TREES: Speaking of L?f and Gl?ser, the two overseas additions have helped UNLV to become the tallest team in the MWC. At 6-3 and 6-6 respectively, both are taller than any player on UNLV's 1999-00 roster. Throw in freshman Padra Strong, who stands 6-4, and the Rebels are no longer looking up at the rest of the league. UNLV boasts three of the MWC's 11 players that check in at 6-3 or taller, while only Gl?ser, Strong, Caroline Matthews of Utah and Morgan Vargas of San Diego State can reach the 6-4 mark.

AYE, AYE, CAP'N: Head coach Regina Miller has named senior Brooke Ingalls and junior Linda Fr?hlich as co-captains for the 2000-01 season. They rank first and second respectively in games played among active players.

SPORTS PROFESSIONALS: Two Lady Rebels are already working on the professional careers, although off of the basketball court. Seniors Brooke Ingalls and Marenna Nyffeler both serve as interns in the UNLV athletics department. In addition to helping promote their team behind the scenes, both players write a piece for unlvrebels.com, the Official Athletic Site for UNLV on the internet. Ingalls is an assistant in the UNLV Sports Information Office and contributes a weekly diary called the "NoteBrooke," available only on the web site. Nyffeler is beginning her second semester as an intern in the Sports Marketing Department and provides a one-on-one interview with a different teammate each week on the net. Both players plan to graduate in May with their degrees in communications.

FR?HLICH RETURNS FROM GERMANY: As one of the top players in her home country of Germany, Linda Fr?hlich was selected to the German National team and competed with the squad for 12 days in mid-November. Although she missed UNLV's first three games of the season, the Lady Rebels managed to escape unscathed. Meanwhile, Fr?hlich helped Germany to a 1-1 record at the qualifications for the European Championships. Germany defeated Romania by 28 points in Freiburg, Germany, and lost to Lithuania in Vilnius, Lithuania, by 12 points. To qualify, Germany needs Lithuania to defeat Romania, which would send Fr?hlich back to Europe to play for Germany at the European Championships in France in September of 2001.

FR?HLICH EARNS PRESEASON HONORS: Honors are nothing new to junior standout Linda Fr?hlich, but the 6-2 forward from Oldendorf, Germany, has a couple more honors for her trophy case. She was chosen as a preseason All-American by Street & Smith's magazine after earning honorable mention All-America honors last season by both the WBCA and the Associated Press. She was also selected as the preseason Mountain West Conference Player of the Year by the league's coaches at its annual media day for the second straight year.

MILLER HONORED IN THE OFF SEASON: Head coach Regina Miller collected some honors of her own this summer. In addition to a contract extension that will keep her on the Lady Rebels' bench through at least the 2002-03 season, Miller was chosen as a court coach at the 2000 USA Basketball Women's Summer Development Camp, which is the trials for the Jones Cup team. She spent a week in Colorado Springs, Colo., working with many of the nation's elite players who were trying out for the national team.