LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - By W.G. Ramirez
Special to UNLVRebels.com

For the first time in her college career, UNLV junior Dylan Gonzalez is in a comfort zone.

After a freshman campaign at Kansas and her sophomore season with the Lady Rebels, the 6-foot guard started in just nine of the 39 games she appeared. Though she was a key reserve for UNLV last season, her shooting suffered miserably and, at times, her morale sunk to levels it never had before.

But two games into the 2016-17 campaign Gonzalez has started both, is averaging 30.5 minutes and 10.0 points per game, the team is 2-0, her spirits are up and she couldn't be any happier.

"Getting a year under my belt really helped me get comfortable first and foremost," said Gonzalez, who scored nine points in Tuesday's 64-53 victory over Houston. "Being able to have that confidence in myself, in that I know the system and know where I'm supposed to be on the offensive end, on the defensive end, and then on top of that, having my teammates reassure me and give me that confidence, knowing I'm a significant part of the team."

Last season UNLV coach Kathy Olivier had seniors Aley Rohde and Amie Callaway in the starting lineup with the talented backcourt of Nikki Wheatley, Brooke Johnson and Gonzalez's twin sister, Dakota. But with Rohde and Callaway departed, it left two spots to fill, and Olivier knew Dylan Gonzalez was ready to take one of them.

"We've always known she's a good player, and she's always wanted to prove to people that 'hey, I can play, I'm good, I know what I'm doing,'" Olivier said. "She works incredibly hard every day in practice, she's busting her tail, she's extremely vocal. Dylan is a worker."

Yet despite her work ethic, it wasn't that easy her first year as a Lady Rebel, as she shot a meager 24 percent for the season, hitting 63 of 256 field goal attempts. From long range, it was blatantly worse, as she shot 23 percent, hitting 22 of her 93 3-point attempts. At times, her cold streaks got the best of her mentally, and it showed.

One night, after a brutal performance, she emerged from the locker room with a look of disbelief and disappeared into the tunnel separating the Cox Pavilion and Thomas and Mack Center, wanting to be alone from everyone - the media, her teammates, the coaches and even her sister. It was a feeling she hadn't experienced, and one she never wanted to feel again.

"I had to learn that I just had to overcome that," Gonzalez said. "And once the game was over, and I wasn't shooting well, or whatever it was, or I was 0-for-who knows, or not shooting well, or feeling like I wasn't playing well, I went into (the mindset) 'alright there's another game still, tomorrow's still gonna come, I still have to practice.' I was either going to be consumed by it, or I was going to try to be better than this. And that's where I went from."

Part of it was forcing her offensive game while trying to help her team and doing a little too much. Another part of it was looking to find some chemistry with her teammates, while having to get used to the reserve role and sharing the spotlight with a handful of talented players who had established roles with the team before she arrived.

Dakota Gonzalez said her sister's mindset has never wavered, in terms of what she's capable of doing, and it's her confidence level that is through the roof this season.

She also said as much as she'd love to take credit for getting her sister in the right mindset in her first year as a full-time starter, Dakota admits she receives just as much support from Dylan as she gives, and it wouldn't be fair to take away from all the work that has been put in.

"She's really come into this year super confident and knowing she is going to have a bigger role," said Dakota Gonzalez, who ranks second on the team in scoring with 15.5 points per game. "She has definitely helped me a lot too, in just maintaining my own confidence in myself and in my game. It's really nice to finally be out there starting a game with her."

And while Dylan Gonzalez is poised to have a breakthrough season, Olivier said there was plenty of good accomplished last season that has been overlooked.

"Dylan did a lot of positive things for us; she does the small things that sometimes don't show up in the box score," Olivier said. "She led our team in charges, she had all kinds of tips and deflections - we chart all that. She knows her teammates believe in her and she believes in herself."

And the feeling is mutual, in that everyone has come together during the offseason to create the full-time chemistry that was missing at times last season.

"We're so much more comfortable with one another," Dylan Gonzalez said. "There are the little things that make the biggest difference in the game, and I think we're all on the same page coming into the season, much more than we were last season."

Said Dakota Gonzalez: "We all know each other's games, we know each other's tendencies, so the chemistry is so much more natural. Even off the court we have bonded and everyone is really feeling the love for one another.