Dec. 12, 2005

LAS VEGAS - Alison Holiday and Kim Koeven have signed national letters of intent to play for the UNLV Women's Basketball team starting in the fall of 2006-07.

Holiday, a 5-6 guard of Kayenta, Ariz., is a three-time all-conference player for Monument Valley High. She has led the Lady Mustangs to the state playoffs the past three seasons, including two appearances in the state championship game. Holiday earned 3A Region North Player of the Year honors her junior season after posting 18 points, 12 assists, nine rebounds and five steals per game, and was also named second team all-state. The two-time team MVP also earned several all-tournament honors and was named this summer a Native American Basketball Invitational All-Star.

"It's nice that we were able to attract a player from the same area as Gwynn Hobbs," said Miller of Holiday. Hobbs was one of the top Native Americans in women's college basketball history and ranks eighth all-time at UNLV with 1,504 career points from 1992-95. "Alison has a strong will to be successful at this level, and her drive to be at the best of her game is unquestionable. She is a very smart and knowledgeable basketball player and will provide us strong leadership at the point guard position."

Koeven, a 5-6 guard of Sumter, S.C., is a three-time Region and Area Player of the Year for Crestwood High, and averaged 21 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals as a junior. She has helped the Knights to the third round of the state tournament the last two seasons, and to two conference and regional championships. A three-time all-state first-team selection, Koeven is also a McDonalds All-America candidate this year. She scored her 1,000th career point as a junior and was also selected to the SportsReport All-State team. Koven has also had the highest GPA on her team the last three years.

"Kim is a very accurate and consistent long-range shooter and is a true competitor," said Miller. "Her academic and athletic success is indicative of her strong work ethic, and I believe the addition of her and Alison will help us to reach our goals of consistently competing at the next level. With graduating three guards after this season, we believe Kim and Alison will have the ability to keep our program moving forward"