Jan. 27, 2006

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -

UNLV-New Mexico game notes
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Saturday night's contest between UNLV and No. 18 New Mexico features what has become unquestionably the most competitive women's basketball rivalry in the Mountain West Conference over the past couple of seasons. The game will tip-off at 6 pm (PST) in the Pit.

Over the past two years, UNLV (12-5, 4-2) and New Mexico (15-4, 5-1) have met a total of five times, and all five games went down to the final minute if not the final shot, and all five were decided by five points or less, including last year's three games all decided by three points each. Though New Mexico has come out on top in four of the five games, it's always a battle between the two, even more so on the Lobos' home court.

New Mexico has won 30 straight conference games in the Pit, and are holding "Pack the Pit" on Saturday night. This is the third time in four years the Lobos are holding their annual promotion against UNLV, who was the last MWC team to win in the Pit, a 62-53 win on Jan. 26, 2002 in a nationally broadcast game (espn2). A win by UNLV would not only break the streak, but put them into a tie for second place in the conference standings along with the winner of the TCU-Utah game.

Though the Lady Rebels' scoring has dropped off this season, with a 65.7 ppg average through 16 games to rank fifth in the MWC after leading the league in scoring in 2003-04 and 2004-05, UNLV is at the top of the league in several defensive categories. The Lady Rebels are currently leading the conference in blocks (4.4 bpg) and are second in both rebound margin (+6.5), and steals (10.6 spg).

With their win over Air Force, the Lady Rebels are now just three wins away from their 600th win in program history, a mark only 34 schools have reached in NCAA history.