March 4, 2016 LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - For the second straight year the UNLV women's basketball team finished the regular season tied for fifth place in the Mountain West, but this year lost the tiebreaker and will be the sixth seed in next week's MW Women's Basketball Championships, which will be held at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas from March 7-11. While both UNLV and New Mexico finished at 9-9 in league play, the Lobos claimed the tiebreaker thanks to their 0-1 record against top-seed Colorado State, while the Lady Rebels were 0-2 against the Rams this season.
UNLV (16-13, 9-9) will open the tournament with a first-round matchup against Air Force, as the Lady Rebels will face the 11th-seeded Falcons on Monday, March 7 at 7 pm. The winner of Monday's game will advance to the quarterfinal round on Tuesday, March 8 for a matchup with third-seed Boise State. The first round games on Monday, all four quarterfinals games on Tuesday, the two semifinal contests on Wednesday and the championship game on Friday, March 11 will all be available on the Mountain West Network, with the digital webcast of UNLV games available on UNLVRebels.com.
This is the first meeting all-time in MW Tournament play between UNLV and the Falcons. The Lady Rebels are 7-9 in their first game of the tournament, which for the first eight years of the conference was their quarterfinal contest, before three years of a double-bye system. UNLV is 3-4 all-time as the higher seed in the MW Tournament.
This is the Lady Rebels' third time as a No. 6 seed in the MW Tournament. UNLV was the sixth seed in the 2006 tournament, when it upset third-seed and top-25 ranked New Mexico 57-45 in the quarterfinals, before falling to second-seed and eventual Elite Eight participant Utah 61-45. The next year again saw UNLV as the sixth seed, and this time the Lady Rebels suffered an 80-52 loss to third-seed New Mexico in quarterfinal action.
Kathy Olivier, in her eighth-year as head coach, is 3-7 all-time with UNLV in the MW Tournament, while the Lady Rebels have an 9-16 (.360) tournament record. UNLV has advanced to the championship game once (2002), and has six semifinal appearances in the 16-year history of the league.The tournament starts with the first round on Monday, March 7 with games at 2, 4:30 and 7 pm. Quarterfinal action begins on Tuesday, March 8 (12, 2:30, 6 and 8:30 pm), the semifinals are on Wednesday, March 11 (6:30, 9 pm) with the championship slated for Friday, March 11 at 12 pm. The winner of the tournament will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. All-session and single-session tickets for the 2016 Mountain West Women's Basketball Championship are now on sale at the Thomas & Mack Center box office, online at UNLVTickets.com or by calling 702-739-FANS. 2016 MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPTHOMAS & MACK CENTERLAS VEGASMonday, March 7 (First Round)
2 pm, No. 8 San Diego State vs. No. 9 Wyoming (Mountain West Network)
4:30 pm, No. 7 Utah State vs. No. 10 Nevada, Reno (Mountain West Network)
7 pm, No. 6 UNLV vs. No. 11 Air Force (Mountain West Network)
Tuesday, March 8 (Quarterfinals)
12 pm, No. 1 Colorado State vs. Game 1 winner (Mountain West Network)
2:30 pm, No. 4 San José State vs. No. 5 New Mexico (Mountain West Network)
6 pm, No. 2 Fresno State vs. Game 2 winner (Mountain West Network)
8:30 pm, No. 3 Boise State vs. Game 3 winner (Mountain West Network)
Wednesday, March 9 (Semifinals)
6:30 pm, Quarterfinals #1 winner vs. #2 winner (Mountain West Network)
9 pm, Quarterfinals #3 winner vs. #4 winner (Mountain West Network)
Friday, March 11 (Championship)
12 pm, Mountain West Network
