Box Score

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV Lady Rebels (1-0) jumped out to an 11-point lead less than six minutes into the contest and never looked back in their season-opening 77-65 victory over the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (0-1) Friday at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Lady Rebels were led by a 23-point outburst from Danielle Miller, who was one of three to register double figures in the contest.

The victory was the seventh straight season-opening triumph under head coach Kathy Olivier and the third consecutive to take place in the Thomas & Mack.

"I thought that we came out really strong, and had amazing preparation," said Olivier. "They were extremely focused during practice, and it's huge to do that with such a young basketball team."

The Islanders jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead with only six ticks off the clock thanks to a layup from Kassie Jones, but that was the last instance that the visitors from southeast Texas would hold an advantage. Miller began her scoring barrage with the first of four 3-pointers with 19:06 remaining in the opening half.

Following Miller's trey, the Lady Rebels got points from five different players to push out to its double-digit cushion. Alana Cesarz sank two free throws to extend the lead to three at 5-2, but those points were answered by a layup from TAMUCC's Camesha Davis. A 3-pointer from Briana Charles and baskets by Aley Rohde and Jehiah Cook put some breathing room - eight points - between the Rebels and their opponent.

Olivia Fouty cut the Islanders' deficit to six with a jumper with less than five minutes off the clock before Cesarz countered with a 3-pointer 30 seconds later. Nikki Wheatley pushed UNLV's lead to 11 with 14:31 left in the first half.

TAMUCC's Ashanti Plummer's layup with 12:26 remaining cut the Rebel advantage to nine points - the last time it was under double digits in the contest - until Rohde connected on a layup with 8:12 off the clock.

Including Rohde's contribution, the Rebels rattled off a 22-9 run that put resulted in a 22-point lead, which was the largest advantage of the contest. Miller led the charge with seven points, while Amie Callaway followed closely with five more. Rohde tallied four in the spurt and the squad got a 3-pointer from Cesarz, a layup from Charles and a free throw from Wheatley.

The Rebels carried an 18-point lead - 43-25 - into the half and maintained a healthy margin until there was 11:48 left. With 20 points separating the two, TAMUCC's Jones sank a pair of from the charity stripe that sparked a 10-2 outburst over a span of 6:33 to shave six points off the lead. Fortunately, that was as close as the Islanders would get until they pulled within 11 with 2:25 remaining in the affair.

"Just good basketball first half. I thought our team was very poised, we were patient, went inside out in the zone. We just did what we needed to do. In the second half I thought we got anxious. I don't necessarily think their defense is what happened, I just thought we got anxious and almost tried to do too much, and we weren't in sync at all. Tonight was a fun game because I felt like we were in control. Where it wasn't fun is that we didn't sustain it."

UNLV outshot TAMUCC by the smallest of margins 40.4 percent to 39.6 percent, respectively. The Rebels were 21-53 from the field and 3-9 from 3-point range. The Islanders, on the other hand, sank two more field goals (23-57), but only made three of nine 3-point attempts (33.3 percent) to the Rebels' 9-19 display (47.4). Both shot well from the free throw line with the home side making 22 of 34 (64.7) to the visitor's 20 of 29 (69.0).

Miller led the Rebels in points, field goals (seven) and 3-pointers (four). She also made five free throws and added five rebounds, five steals and two assists.

Cesarz and Rohde notched 16 and 13 points, respectively. The former was 5-13 from the field and had four assists and three rebounds to the latter's 3-7 shooting, seven made free throws and eight rebounds.

TAMUCC was paced by the Fouty and her double-double of 17 points and 14 rebounds. Shay Weaver led all Islander scorers with 20 points with six made field goals, three of which were from behind the arc.

The Lady Rebels return to action Monday for a 5:00 pm tilt with Loyola Marymount in the Cox Pavilion.