Aug. 9, 2006
LAS VEGAS - 2006 UNLV Women's BasketballSchedule
The UNLV women's basketball team will face up to a possible three teams from the Big 10, host one top-25 program in DePaul, and have the chance to host another top-25 program in Purdue as well as 2006 WNIT Postseason champions Kansas State, as the athletics department announced the 2006-07 Lady Rebels' schedule on Wednesday.
UNLV will have a possible 14 games against teams that played in the postseason in 2006, beginning with its home opener against defending West Coast Conference champion Pepperdine on Nov. 12.
"This is probably the most challenging schedule we've had in my nine years here, especially considering that we lost five key seniors, including three starters to graduation and 60 percent of our offense," said UNLV head coach Regina Miller. "However, taking on a schedule like this will give our newcomers a chance to play against top competition very early in their careers. The quality of the non-conference teams we face should help us prepare for what looks to again be a very strong Mountain West Conference."
The season opener against Pepperdine will be the first of six straight home games for UNLV, during which the Lady Rebels will also take on Michigan on Nov. 18. UNLV will cap off the homestand by hosting the Lady Rebel Shootout on Nov. 24-25. This year's Shootout features Kansas State, Wisconsin and Elon.
Following a pair of road games at Southern Utah and Long Beach State, the Lady Rebels will return home for a five-game homestand. UNLV will play three games in three days, as the Lady Rebels will host first UC Irvine on Dec. 19. The next day will be the first round of the third annual Duel In The Desert with Purdue, Boise State and UT-San Antonio completing the field. The tournament will run from Dec. 20-21.
Following the Christmas break, UNLV returns home to host DePaul on Dec. 28 and will close out the non-conference slate with its annual matchup with in-state rival Nevada, Reno on Dec. 30.
The Lady Rebels will then begin Mountain West Conference play with a featured matchup at TCU on Jan. 2, opening the season two days before the rest of the league. The first MWC home game for UNLV will be on Jan. 7 against San Diego State. This year's MWC schedule has the Lady Rebels playing on several days of the week, including one Sunday game against Air Force on Feb. 25. UNLV's final home game will be against New Mexico on March 1 and the regular season will end on the road at Colorado State on March 3. For the first time in four years, the MWC Tournament will return to Las Vegas and will be held in UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center March 6-10.
UNLV returns two starters from last year's team that finished with an 18-12 record and a school record sixth-straight postseason trip with an appearance in the WNIT.
