March 7, 2006

LAS VEGAS -

UNLV MWC Quarterfinal Notes
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One of the league's most competitive rivalries will have another featured matchup on Wednesday, as UNLV takes on the 21st-ranked New Mexico Lobos in the Mountain West Conference Women's Basketball Quarterfinals on Wednesday at 2:30 pm (MST) in Denver at the Pepsi Center. The game will be broadcast by CSTV, and will also be available on both UNLVRebels.com and TheMWC.com.

Over the past three years, UNLV and New Mexico have met a total of seven times, with six of the seven games went down to the final minute if not the final shot, and all six of those were decided by five points or less, including last year's three games all decided by three points each. In the last meeting just six days ago, UNLV scored with 22 seconds left to pull off the upset on the Lady Rebels' Senior Day 65-63 in Las Vegas. Though New Mexico did claim a 60-47 win in Albuquerque earlier this year, the 13-point margin was the closest any conference team came to the Lobos on their home court this season.

Both teams have had success in the quarterfinal round the past two years, as they along with Utah are the only three schools to have reached the semifinals in both 2004 and 2005. New Mexico defeated UNLV in the semifinals last year, while Utah stopped UNLV in the 2004 Tournament.

Formerly the MWC's top offense, UNLV now is at the top of the league in several defensive categories. The Lady Rebels are currently leading the conference in blocks (3.96 bpg), are second in steals (9.85 spg) and rebound margin (+4.6).

UNLV has a 5-6 all-time record in the MWC Tournament, are are 1-1 against the Lobos. New Mexico meanwhile is 11-3, and has a nine-game win streak in the tournament.