Jan. 11, 2005

LAS VEGAS -

UNLV-Northern Colorado game notes
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Riding a four-game win streak, the UNLV women's basketball team (8-5) finish their non-conference slate on Thursday night as they take on Northern Colorado (3-12) for the first time since the 1975-76 season. The game tips off at 7 pm in the Cox Pavilion.

Following the game, UNLV will fly out on Friday morning to open Mountain West Conference play at San Diego State on Saturday afternoon, beginning the quest for the school's first regular season MWC championship. Thursday's game is also the sixth of the season for Northern Colorado against a MWC squad, they are 0-5 so far in 2004-05 (losses to San Diego State, Air Force, Wyoming, Colorado State, and Utah).

UNLV has been on fire offensively over the last three games, scoring 80+ points in all three, and winning all three by a +25 point margin. The Lady Rebels have used a balanced attack to wear down its opponents, with its bench contributing 31% of the team's scoring (as opposed to 17% last year). The starting five is a more balanced scoring threat, with all five ranked in the top 30 in the MWC.

After turning the ball over 20 or more times a game in five of the first six contests of the season, UNLV has gone under 20 turnovers in its last seven games, including a season-low 11 against UNR.

Thursday's game concludes a seven-game homestretch for the Lady Rebels. They are 5-1 over that stretch, with the lone loss coming to now 24th-ranked Iowa State in the Scarlet championship game of the Duel In The Desert Tournament. Saturday's road game at SDSU is not only the MWC opener, but the first of three straight on the road for UNLV, with trips to Wyoming (Jan. 20) and Colorado State (Jan. 22) to follow.