Dec. 5, 2008

LAS VEGAS -

UNLV game notes at Loyola Marymount

The Lady Rebels (4-2), in the midst of a three-game road swing, now have to face two teams back-to-back that handed them the two most heart-breaking losses of last season, as both Loyola Marymount (Saturday's opponent) and Oregon State defeated UNLV on last-second layups. UNLV will look to avenge both losses, but knows it will be undertaking a very tough challenge, as the two teams are a combined 10-2 (LMU is 6-1, Oregon State is 4-1). Saturday's game against the Lions will be in the Gersten Pavilion on the LMU campus, with a 2 pm start. Their will be no UNLV radio broadcast of the LMU game, but Bob Blum will return to broadcast the Oregon State contest on Dec. 15 in Corvallis.

UNLV will need a better defensive performance then it had on Tuesday night, as it allowed Texas Tech to shoot 43.5% from the floor, the best against the Lady Rebels this season. UNLV had entered the game ranked in the top 40 in the nation in field goal defense, a big turnaround from last season in which it was near the bottom of the national standings. One positive sign from the game against the Lady Raiders though was UNLV's performance on the boards, an area the team had struggled with in the first five games. The Lady Rebels outrebounded the taller Texas Tech squad by nine, and for the first time this season had the advantage on second chance points, 11-7.

Both teams like to shoot from long range, as UNLV's 6.77 three-pointers made per game is more then double last year's total, and both teams have made 12 three-pointers in a game this year, following LMU's 12 against Cal Poly on Tuesday night.