Aug. 15, 2011
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) -
2011-12 UNLV Lady Rebel schedule
As has always been the case under fourth-year head coach Kathy Olivier, the UNLV Lady Rebels will face a very challenging and exciting schedule in 2011-12, with a possible six non-conference games against teams from BCS conferences. The 30-game regular season slate, which was released by the athletic department on Monday, will see UNLV play in four separate regular season tournaments, including two away from Las Vegas, while the Lady Rebels will host a pair of four-team pre-Christmas invitationals that will feature a total of five teams that advanced to postseason play in 2011. UNLV will also make a total of three regular-season appearances on TV, on the Mtn. network.
"We have a very experienced roster this year, especially with our returning starters, so I felt this schedule would be a good challenge for them and help get our team prepared early in the year for the test of playing on the road," Olivier said. "We have the chance to play games against California and Iowa on their home courts, and those are two strong women's basketball programs that will be tough environments to play at, while our road game at Arizona is another environment that should help us get ready for when we enter Mountain West play."
UNLV has the potential to play up to 16 games against teams that played in the 2011 NCAA or WNIT postseason tournaments, with five of those potential matchups against teams that earned bids to the NCAA Tournament. The season starts for the Lady Rebels in Iowa City, as UNLV will be playing in the Iowa Hawkeye Challenge on Nov. 12-13. The Lady Rebs' matchups have not been released yet, but the other teams in the event include host and Big 10 member Iowa, a NCAA at-large team in 2011, Butler and Harvard. Following that will be a stretch of three straight at home, with the home opener coming against UC Riverside on Nov. 16, San Jose State on Nov. 19, and a contest in the Thomas & Mack Center on Nov. 22 against UTSA, part of a double-header with the UNLV Runnin' Rebels.
Thanksgiving weekend will see two teams coming off NCAA Sweet 16 appearances playing in the Lady Rebel Round-Up. Georgia and Georgetown, both expected to be ranked in the preseason top-25, will meet on Nov. 26, following the opening game of UNLV and Northeastern. The Lady Rebels will then face either Georgia or Georgetown on Nov. 27 on the second day.
Next up will be a three-game stretch away from Las Vegas as UNLV will start its extended annual road trip during the National Finals Rodeo, which is on campus in December. First up will be a pair of games in a tournament at the University of California, and which also features CSU Bakersfield and Prairie View A&M, with the two-day event running from Dec. 3-4. The next weekend will see UNLV return to the state of California, this time for a contest at UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 10.
On Dec. 18-20, the Lady Rebels will host a pair of three-day events for the second straight season. UNLV will play in the BTI Invitational, and will open up against Northwestern on Dec. 18, and follow with a Dec. 19 game against North Dakota State, and a Dec. 20 matchup against Kansas State, a 2011 NCAA at-large squad. Northwestern meanwhile played in the WNIT tournament this past season, and features Dannielle Diamant on its roster, the granddaughter of former UNLV Runnin' Rebels head coach Jerry Tarkanian. The other bracket will see Oklahoma, Xavier, Syracuse and Ohio play in the Duel In The Desert, with Oklahoma and Xavier also coming in as potential preseason top-25 squads.
Post-Christmas, UNLV will take a trip down south to take on Pac-12 member Arizona for the first matchup between the schools since 2003. The non-conference slate will conclude with a pair of games against future Mountain West members, as the Lady Rebs will play at in-state rival Nevada, Reno on Jan. 2, and then host Fresno State on Jan. 6 in Las Vegas, in a game televised on The Mtn.
UNLV will open the 2011-12 Mountain West schedule on the road at Wyoming on Jan. 11, while the home league opener comes on Jan. 14 against San Diego State. The Lady Rebels will play their first games against Boise State as conference rivals on Jan. 25 (Las Vegas) and Feb. 22 (Boise, Idaho). Other highlights include the other two televised games of the season, on Feb. 4 against Wyoming, and on Feb. 18 against New Mexico, with both games being held in Las Vegas. This year's MW Tournament, held once again in the Thomas & Mack Center is back to an eight-team, three-day format over four days, with the quarterfinals set for Wednesday, March 7, the semifinals on March 9, and the championship game on March 10.
The Lady Rebels bring back all five starters and six of their top eight scorers from last year's squad.
