March 13, 2001

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STORYLINE: The UNLV Lady Rebels (18-9) earned their first postseason berth in seven years when they were invited to the 32-team field of the 2001 Women's National Invitation Tournament ... They will face Loyola Marymount (21-9) in the first round on Thursday, March 15 at 7:00 p.m. PT on the Lions' home court ... The last time UNLV played after its conference tournament was in 1993-94, when the Rebels earned an NCAA automatic bid after capturing the Big West Tournament crown ... The school's last NIT appearance came in 1993, where it went 1-2 in the eight-team format of the NWIT ... This will be UNLV's first WNIT appearance since the tourney changed its name and format in 1998 ... UNLV finished the year in a three-way tie for third in the MWC this season with BYU and New Mexico, both of whom join the Rebels in the WNIT field.

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 courtside will be former Lady Rebel Cheryl Kosewicz.

TRAVEL PLANS: UNLV will depart Las Vegas from the Thomas & Mack Center at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 14, and arrive in Los Angeles on Southwest flight #2037 at 9:40 a.m. The team will be staying at the Furama Hotel, (310) 670-8111, and will return home immediately following the game on Southwest flight #1381, arriving at 11:55 p.m.

THE LADY REBELS: UNLV (18-9) posted an 8-6 mark and tied for third place in the Mountain West Conference ... The Rebels are making their 14th postseason appearance in the program's 27-year history ... Head coach Regina Miller is in her third season with the Lady Rebels and has a record of 52-32 (.619) ... Miller collected her 100th career victory as a head coach in the win over Eastern Washington ... UNLV is led by MWC Player of the Year Linda Fr?hlich, who paces the league in scoring with 19.6 ppg and in rebounding with 9.3 rpg.

ABOUT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT: Loyola Marymount (21-9) has not played since a March 4 loss to Saint Mary's, 58-53, in the title game of the West Coast Conference Tournament ... LMU is making its first-ever postseason appearance ... The Lions went 10-4 in the WCC to finish tied for third ... They are coached by WCC Coach of the Year Julie Wilhoit, who has a 62-105 (.371) record in her sixth season at LMU and an overall coaching ledger of 183-175 (.511) in her 13th year ... The Lions are led in scoring by junior guard Bryn Britton, who averages 15.0 ppg, and in rebounding by freshman center Adrianne Slaughter, who pulls down 7.0 rpg.

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT SERIES NOTES: The Rebels lead the all-time series, 3-0, including a 62-57 win in the last meeting, Nov. 14, 1998 at Gersten Pavilion ... That game marked the UNLV coaching debut of Regina Miller and the collegiate debuts of Linda Fr?hlich, Erin Johansson and Courtney Swanson ... The series was born in 1993 as UNLV invaded Gersten Pavilion to take a 89-67 victory ... The Lions played their first and only game at the Thomas & Mack Center on Dec. 30, 1997, falling to the Rebels 86-60 in UNLV's first win of the season ... UNLV returned the game the next season, opening the 1998-99 schedule in Los Angeles ... Fr?hlich led the Rebels with 17 points and 13 rebounds ... LMU's roster shows three holdovers from that `98 matchup: Rosa Bernasconi, Bryn Britton and Taryn Reynolds ... UNLV's Tiana Sanders is from nearby Duarte, Calif., and attended John Muir High School with the Lions' April DeJohnette.

THE LAST CLASH: The last time UNLV and Loyola Marymount met was the 1998-99 season opener for both teams. The Rebels, featuring a new coach and a trio of talented new players, rolled to a 62-57 victory in the UNLV coaching debut of Regina Miller. UNLV (1-0) erased an eight-point halftime deficit and finally captured the lead for good with 5:13 to play. LMU (0-1) pulled within two points on a Bryn Britton jumper with 23 seconds remaining, but the Rebels' Kedonica Qualls hit a late free throw to seal the Lions fate. Qualls trip to the line was one of 41 free throw attempts for the Rebels in the game, who capitalized on 27 LMU fouls. Linda Fr?hlich, in her first game as a collegian, led UNLV with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Liz Wolfe also posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards. LMU's Julie Jarosz led the Lions with 17 while Britton chipped in with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists in a balanced effort. Erin Johansson played 29 minutes and scored five points in her first career start.

COMMON OPPONENTS: Three schools got a crack at both UNLV and Loyola Marymount this season: San Diego State, Cal State Northridge and Utah. The Rebels struggled against that competition, posting a 2-3 record. UNLV swept the season series with SDSU, dropped a pair of games to Utah and were upset at home by the Matadors. LMU went a perfect 3-0 against those foes, and are one of only three teams this season to knock off the Utes. And while the Lions look to maintain their streak vs. the Mountain West Conference, UNLV will be facing a WCC opponent for the first time this year. Furthermore, Thursday's game will mark the second in a row for UNLV against one of the three teams to top Utah. After BYU defeated UNLV in the MWC Tournament, the Cougars upset the Utes in the semifinals.

LAST TIME OUT: Last time out, UNLV fell to Brigham Young in the quarterfinal matchup of the Mountain West Conference Tournament, 62-54. The Cougars' Stacy Jensen drained a three-pointer from the top of the key with 57 seconds remaining to seal the win. The Lady Rebels led through most of the second half, but gave way to BYU's performance at the line and on the glass. UNLV was whistled for 15 fouls in the second half, allowing the Cougars to make 27 trips to the stripe. They connected on 14 and went 18-for-31 from the line for the game. UNLV made most of its free throw opportunities, but didn't get enough of them, going 12-of-14. The Cougars also outrebounded the Rebels, 40-31, and ripped down 14 offensive rebounds for 11 second-chance points. Fr?hlich led all scorers with 20 points, and Constance Jinks added 12. BYU was led by Erin Thorn's 13, Julie Leitner's 12 and Chanell Rose's 10. Jensen finished with nine. It was the second straight win in the series for the Cougars, who took two of three from the Rebels this season.

LOOKING AHEAD: Should the Rebels get past Loyola Marymount on Thursday, they would face the winner of Friday's North Texas-Oklahoma State matchup. That game would be played either Sunday, March 18 or Monday, March 19 in a location to be determined. Most likely, UNLV would have to travel to Stillwater, Okla., if the Cowgirls (14-14) were to win. However, if North Texas (19-10) defeats OSU, a second-round game could potentially be played at the Thomas & Mack Center. UNLV has not hosted a non-conference tournament postseason game since 1991 when it entertained Texas Tech in a first-round NCAA West Sub-Regional game at the Mack. The Rebels won that game, 70-65.

TEAMWORK: After going 23 games with only one margin of victory closer than five points, two of the Rebels' last three regular season contests were decided by three points or less: the 68-67 win over San Diego State on Feb. 24 and the 72-69 triumph over Wyoming on March 1 ... The Rebs grabbed a season-best 51 rebounds at Wyoming ... The SDSU game was UNLV's biggest comeback of the season as the Rebels trailed by 18 with just more than 10 minutes to play. It was the second time that a last-second bucket by Constance Jinks lifted the Rebels to victory. The other was to beat New Mexico, 52-50, in the first round of the MWC Tournament last season ... UNLV's largest (41) and smallest (1) margins of victory came at the Aztecs' expense ... UNLV's win over New Mexico on Feb. 17 was its 500th all-time women's basketball victory ... UNLV led for the final 28 minutes of that game ... Five players saw 30 minutes or more of action against UNM ... The 26-point win over Air Force was the fourth straight in the series of at least 25 points ... The Rebels suffered their worst defeat of the season at Utah by 31 points, 74-43 ... It was the first time UNLV lost back-to-back games since losing both games on the same road trip last year ... In front of its largest crowd in 12 years (2,148), the Lady Rebels erased a 14-point deficit to come from behind and beat Wyoming, 69-61 ... The Rebels posted their largest margin of victory in the Regina Miller era with their 41-point blowout of San Diego State, 82-41. It was the biggest win for UNLV since a 95-52 victory over San Jose State in 1993 and tied the record for largest win in a MWC game set by BYU against SDSU last year ... Four players scored in double figures vs. the Aztecs. En route to the win, the Rebels used their largest scoring run of the year, a 27-0 roll covering 11:04.

WITH THE BALL: UNLV is averaging 68.3 points per game, which ranks second in the MWC ... The Rebels lead the league in field goal percentage, shooting .445 (661-1,487) from the field ... Five Rebels (Gambill, Gl?ser, Ingalls, Johansson and Jinks) are shooting 75 percent or better from the line, and the Rebels are 21-for-24 from the stripe over the last two games ... Linda Fr?hlich has reached the 20-point plateau in each of the last seven games. She leads the MWC with nine 20-point outings and two 30-point games ... Constance Jinks and Linda Fr?hlich were the only players to score in the second half against San Diego State ... The Rebels made a season-best nine three-pointers against New Mexico and shot .500 (9-18) from that range ... Over the three games of the Rebels' last home stand, Dayna Gambill registered 19 assists against only three turnovers, and upped her league-leading assist/turnover ratio to 2.11 ... UNLV topped the 80-point mark for the sixth time this season in the loss at BYU. In that game, the Rebels ripped off an 11-1 run in less than a minute to cut the Cougars' lead to three points ... In the Jan. 27 win over the Aztecs, Dayna Gambill had eight assists and no turnovers ... Utah held the Rebels to a season-low 29.3 percent from the floor ... Against Pacific, Linda Fr?hlich broke the school record for single-game shooting percentage, connecting on 16-for-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 ... UNLV shot a season-best .870 (20-23) from the line against Cal State Northridge.

DEFENDING THE POST: The Lady Rebels are doing it with defense this season. They have allowed only four opponents to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor in a game and have lost three of those games ... UNLV is a perfect 11-0 when it holds opponents to less than 60 points ... Twice this season Brooke Ingalls has set career highs for rebounds. She snagged 11 boards against Cal State Northridge to record her first-ever double-double on Dec. 19, and bettered that total by one with 12 rebounds at Colorado State on March 3 ... The Rebels are forcing more than 18 turnovers per game. In their first meeting with SDSU, they pressured the Aztecs into coughing up the ball a season-best 34 times, and at least five times against BYU, UNLV forced a turnover by denying the Cougars a shot before the 30-second clock expired ... The Rebels kept Air Force to just 23.9 percent shooting from the floor, the lowest total by any opponent all season, and did not allow the Falcons a shot from inside three-point range for the first 16 minutes of the game ... After pulling down 18 and 14 rebounds in respective games at BYU and Utah, Linda Fr?hlich upped her league-leading average to 9.3 rpg, and nearly seven of those are defensive boards. Her 18 rebounds at BYU is the best single-game performance in the MWC this year, topping Viveca L?f's 16-rebound effort against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Fr?hlich leads the league with eight double-figure rebound games ... The Rebels stole the ball a season-high 16 times from Pacific ... Linda Fr?hlich and Constance Jinks both rank among the top 10 in the league in steals ... Linda Fr?hlich ranks third in the MWC with 35 blocks, including a career-high six against New Mexico, followed by Petra Gl?ser and Viveca L?f with eight apiece.

THE USUAL SUSPECTS: Most people had a pretty good idea how things would turn out in the preseason, as indicated by the MWC's preseason Coaches and Media polls. Both polls were accurate in predicting Utah and Colorado State finish first and second respectively in the conference race. Although the two polls produced a different order of finish for the next three spots, both showed a narrow gap in the standings between Brigham Young, New Mexico and UNLV, all of whom tied for third place with identical 8-6 marks within the league. Only San Diego State provided any sort of shock, finishing in sixth place, one spot ahead of Wyoming. The polls were also dead-on with the preseason all-conference team, naming four of the five who actually received the honor, and the media correctly guessed the Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.

FR?HLICH REPEATS AS LEAGUE'S TOP PLAYER: Linda Fr?hlich successfully defended her place atop the Mountain West Conference when the league's coaches voted her as the MWC Player of the Year for the second straight season. Statistically, Fr?hlich ranks among the league leaders in at least 16 different categories:

CATEGORY MARK RANK Points per game 19.6 1st Rebounds per game 9.3 1st Assists per game 3.33 8th Steals per game 2.17 4th Blocked Shots per game 1.48 3rd Field Goals per game 7.61 1st Field Goal Attempts per game 15.43 1st Field Goal Pct. .493 6th 3-Point Field Goals per game 1.52 7th 3-Point Field Goal Pct. .438 1st Offensive Rebounds per game 2.57 5th Defensive Rebounds per game 6.87 1st 30-Point Games 2 T1st 20-Point Games 8 1st 10-Rebound Games 8 1st Double-doubles 8 T2nd

POSTSEASON HONOR ROLL: For the second straight season, Linda Fr?hlich was recognized by the Mountain West Conference as its Player of the Year. The conference's preseason favorite for the award, the 6-2 junior forward leads the league in scoring and rebounding for the second straight year, and ranks among the leaders in 16 other categories (see page 5). In addition, she owns the highest single-game totals in the conference this season in scoring (37 points vs. Pacific) and rebounding (18 boards at BYU). She was also named to the all-conference first team for the third straight year. She claimed first team All-WAC honors as a freshman and did the same in the new MWC last season. Constance Jinks was a third-team All-MWC selection after earning MWC All-Newcomer kudos last year.

PRESEASON HONOR ROLL: Fr?hlich was chosen as a preseason All-American by Street & Smith's 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.

IN-SEASON HONOR ROLL: Several UNLV players earned awards during the season, also. After the Lady Rebels won their home tournament for the first time since the 1993-94 season, sophomore Constance Jinks was honored as the 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 roles. 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?: The Mountain West Conference has honored the league's top player for each week 15 times this season, and in SIX of those instances 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. Fr?hlich did not stop there, earning the award again on Jan. 29 after her third double-double of the year at SDSU. Three weeks later, after leading UNLV to home wins over Air Force and New Mexico, the Player of the Week award found its way to Fr?hlich once again, marking a record sixth time she had captured the honor. Only BYU volleyball standout Nina Puikkonen can also claim six MWC Player of the Week awards. It was Fr?hlich's third award of the year and UNLV's fifth. Not to be outdone, Jinks earned her second award and the squad's sixth on Feb. 26 after nailing the game-winning shot against San Diego State. Colorado State and Utah have had three players honored, and no other team in the MWC boasts more than two Players of the Week.

TOURNAMENT TESTED: The WNIT marks the fourth tournament appearance for UNLV this season. The Rebels got off to a good start this season after winning their home tourney -- the Cox Communications/Lady Rebel Shootout -- in November. One week later, UNLV denied Northwestern a chance for a crown on its home floor by defeating the Wildcats in the title match of the Roger L. White Invitational. Including UNLV's quarterfinal loss to BYU in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, the Rebels boast a 4-1 record and two trophies in tournament play this season.

SCARLET FEVER: For the ninth straight postseason game, UNLV will wear its road "scarlet" jerseys when it faces Loyola Marymount on the road. The last six were all part of conference tourney play, as UNLV earned four straight No. 5 seeds, dating back to a 1995 Big West Tournament appearance. Prior to that, UNLV donned the scarlet in its 1994 NCAA Tournament first round game at Montana and sported the red in the Big West title game that same season against higher-seeded Hawaii. They are 3-5 over that span, and seven of those eight games were played at the Thomas & Mack Center.

WINNING SEASONS: After the Lady Rebels suffered through three straight four-win seasons from 1995-98, head coach Regina Miller seems to have gotten them back on track. Since Miller took control of the program prior to the 1998-99 campaign, winning seasons have become a regular thing. UNLV won 17 games in both of Miller's first two seasons, and carry an 18-8 mark into postseason play in 2000-01, Miller's third year at the school. Along with the three consecutive winning seasons, the Rebels have finished above .500 in conference play for the second straight year, notching an 8-6 mark against MWC foes this year. UNLV has logged winning seasons in 21 of the 27 years of the program and has produced more wins than losses in conference play 14 times since joining the Big West in 1983-84.

OUCH!: UNLV used the same starting lineup for 11 straight games before Brooke Ingalls suffered a concussion in the second half at San Diego State. In the next game against Colorado State, center Petra Gl?ser suffered a small fracture in her knee which kept her out of the next three games. In the 10 games since Jan. 27, UNLV has used eight different starting lineups and has not used the same starting five in consecutive games. Ingalls returned to the regular rotation on Feb. 24, while Gl?ser's return date is still unknown. Her injury is listed as day-to-day.

DOWN THE BACKSTRETCH: The Lady Rebels are making a habit of finishing strong. Last season, UNLV won six of its last seven before dropping a two-point decision to Utah at the MWC Tournament. This year, the Rebs are winners of four of their last six, including three games decided by five points or less.

HEAD OF THE CLASS: UNLV is fortunate that three of the league's top scorers, Linda Fr?hlich, Constance Jinks and Petra Gl?ser, will return for next season. Fr?hlich, at 19.6 ppg, not only leads all juniors in the conference in scoring, but all players as well. Jinks checks in at fourth in the conference scoring race with 14.0 ppg and third among all sophomores, while Gl?ser is the league's top scoring freshman with 11.2 ppg.

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 rank second in the Mountain West Conference in assists this season, averaging 15.78 dishes per game, and 63 percent of their buckets have come off of a pass (426 assists on 680 field goals). Individually, Dayna Gambill leads the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.11) and ranks second in total assists (131) and assists per game (5.04). Linda Fr?hlich also ranks among the league leaders, checking in at eighth with 3.33 apg.

THE PETRA DISH: Here's the "dish" on Petra Gl?ser, the league's top newcomer in several statistical categories. The 6-6 freshman from Amtsberg, Germany, ranks 11th in the league in scoring with 11.2 ppg and 20th in rebounding with 4.6 rpg. Those totals are tops in the league among freshmen. She also leads all rookies in minutes played (29.0), field goal percentage (.461) and free throw percentage (.775). She is also the only freshman to have claimed MWC Player of the Week honors, earning the award after scoring a career-high 21 at Arizona. Gl?ser started the first 18 games of the season before injuring her knee on Feb. 1 against Colorado State, and UNLV went 13-5 over that span. Since Gl?ser's injury, the Rebels are just 5-4.

UNDER PRESSURE: Constance Jinks feels no pressure. The sophomore guard has already hit TWO game-winning shots for the Rebels in her career. Last season, she scored a driving layup against New Mexico in the first round of the MWC Tournament to break a 50-50 tie and propel UNLV to victory. This year, it was her Feb. 24 shot to beat San Diego State, sealing an 18-point comeback with an 18-foot jump shot from the top of the key to lift UNLV to a 68-67 win.

SUPER SUB: With the injuries to two of UNLV's starting post players, sophomore Dishawn McCracklin made the most of her opportunity, stepping up her game. Through the first 18 games of the year, the Country Club Hills, Ill., native averaged only 6.2 minutes, 1.1 points and 1.2 rebounds per game. However, in the Rebels' last nine contests, McCracklin has started four times and has been relied upon for 22.1 minutes, 1.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Over that span, she has posted season bests for both minutes and rebounds.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: UNLV has 11 double-doubles on the season: Linda Fr?hlich (8) vs. CSUN (17 pts, 11 reb), UNR (17 pts, 14 reb), at SDSU (21 pts, 10 reb), at BYU (14 pts, 18 reb), at Utah (23 pts, 14 reb), vs. UNM (32 pts, 11 reb), vs. SDSU (29 pts, 15 reb), and at Wyoming (27 pts, 15 reb), Dayna Gambill (2) vs. UNR (12 pts, 11 asst), vs. Air Force (12 pts, 10 asst), and Brooke Ingalls (1) vs. CSUN (11 pts, 11 reb). Fr?hlich's eight double-doubles this year give her 40 for her career.

FAMILIAR FACES: While UNLV and Loyola Marymount have clashed just three times in women's hoops action, the schools' men's basketball teams have been frequent sparring partners over the years. The Runnin' Rebels have won 20 of the 25 meetings between the two squads, including a 75-60 decision on Jan. 3 this season. Perhaps the most noteworthy game in the series was the 1990 NCAA West Regional title game in which UNLV ended the Lions' Cinderella run with a 131-101 victory.

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 that 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: Eight times this season the Lady Rebels have appeared on the tube. Last Wednesday's Sportswest production of UNLV's MWC Tournament game, shown on Cox Cable Metro 48, was the first live telecast in Las Vegas of a UNLV women's basketball game this year. Six times the Las Vegas UPN affiliate KTUD Channel 25/Cable 14 has shown the Lady Rebels from the Thomas & Mack Center, on tape delay. Also, UNLV's game at BYU was aired in the Provo area. It is believed to be the most in-season television appearances in the program's history.

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 was happy to return to the venue in 2000-01. The Lady Rebels went 12-4 at home this season and own an all-time record of 97-33 (.746) in the Mack, in the arena's 18th season of basketball. Included in that total is a 5-4 mark in conference tournament games played at the T&M. 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. Against Wyoming on Feb. 3, a season-best 2,148 fans rolled in to watch UNLV as part of the school's "Pack the Mack" promotion. That marked the largest crowd to watch a Lady Rebel home game since 2,200 attended for the 1989-90 home finale against UC Santa Barbara. Only five times in school history has a crowd of more than 2,000 been recorded. For every ticket sold, UNLV donated $1 to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Las Vegas ... Some 1,277 turned out to watch UNLV host defending conference champ Utah on Jan. 11. In 15 home games this season, UNLV has averaged 869 fans per game. That is up more than 60 percent from last year, an average of 328 more fans per game. Not reflected in that total was a hefty crowd of 1,588 present at UNLV's MWC Tournament game vs. BYU.

ROAD WARRIORS: UNLV posted a winning record away from the friendly confines of the T&M, as well, going 6-5. Included in that total were games played at Arizona and Utah, both of whom made appearances in the top 25 this year. Only once this season -- the trip to BYU and Utah -- did the Rebels fail to take at least one game of a road trip.

MILESTONE ARENA: UNLV is making a habit of watching its players achieve milestones at San Diego's Cox Arena. Linda Fr?hlich topped the 1,500-point mark for her career in the Rebels win at SDSU on Jan. 27, reaching the milestone on the same floor where she tallied her 1,000th career point last season. She wasn't the only Rebel to notch a career mark as Kinesha Davis scored her 1,000th career point later in the first half. Davis 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. They are the only active Rebels with at least 1,000 career points.

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 record of 112-132 in her ninth season as a head coach, including a 60-100 mark compiled in six years at Western Illinois, and is 52-32 in her third season at UNLV.

UNLV GETS 500TH WIN ALL-TIME: With its 75-70 victory over New Mexico on Feb. 17, UNLV won its 500th game in women's basketball history. In the program's 27th season, the Lady Rebels boast an all-time mark of 502-256.

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: juniors Viveca L?f and 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 Brooke Ingalls and 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.

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.