A potential four contests against Power 5 opponents and a first-ever game against an ACC squad inside the Thomas & Mack Center highlight the always challenging slate for the 2019-20 UNLV women's basketball team. The program's 29-regular season slate was announced by the athletics department Tuesday.
The Lady Rebels are used to having one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the Mountain West under 12th-year head coach
Kathy Olivier, and that's the same again for the upcoming season. UNLV could play 12 games against teams that reached the postseason a year ago. That's highlighted by a possible second meeting in three years with SEC power Mississippi State, who reached the NCAA Elite Eight in 2019 after back-to-back national championship runner-up finishes.
"This schedule is good for us in so many different ways," said Olivier. "We always like to challenge ourselves early, and having games against Power 5 teams like Duke, Virginia and USC will easily accomplish that. Since we have such a young group it's great for us to be playing five of our first six games at home. It's also exciting to be able to play so many games in the Thomas & Mack Center this year."
UNLV will play its first two games in the Thomas & Mack Center, starting with the season-opener against Cal State Fullerton Nov. 9, making it the sixth time in the last eight years the Lady Rebels have opened the season in the TMC. That will be followed by a visit from the Duke Blue Devils, who become the first-ever women's basketball team from the ACC to make an appearance in the Thomas & Mack when the teams square off Nov. 14.
After the first road game of the year, Nov. 19 at Southern Utah, the Lady Rebels come back to host South Carolina State in the Cox Pavilion Nov. 23. The following weekend will see UNLV host the Lady Rebel Round-Up, the annual four-team Thanksgiving tournament held Nov. 30-Dec. 1. The Lady Rebels open the event against Elon in the first game, while IUPUI and St. John's will face off in the day's other battle. The consolation and championship games will follow the next day.
UNLV will have the earliest conference start in program history when it faces Mountain West rival Fresno State Dec. 3 in the Cox Pavilion. That will also be the only conference game until the new year, as the Lady Rebels' first league bye of the season will also be in that first week. The MW schedule is starting earlier this season due to the conference tournament being moved back a week.
Three road games follow for the Lady Rebels, with trips to Pepperdine (Dec. 7), USC (Dec. 14) and Grand Canyon (Dec. 16). UNLV closes out the non-conference schedule by once again hosting the Duel In The Desert, which is held this year Dec. 19-21 in the Cox Pavilion. Mississippi State and South Florida open the four-team event Dec. 19, while UNLV faces off against Virginia Dec. 20. The third place and championship game contests are set for Dec. 21.
This year's Mountain West schedule format will again be 18 games, with the Lady Rebels facing eight teams home and away, and two teams just once. This year's teams that UNLV will play just once are Air Force, who the Lady Rebels will face in Colorado Springs, Colorado (Jan. 4) and Wyoming (Jan. 11) in Las Vegas.
The Lady Rebels' two games in the Silver State Series, the all-sports competition against UNR sponsored by IBEW and Nevada Donor Network, will be Jan. 22 in Las Vegas and Feb. 12 in Reno. Other highlights during the conference season will be the team's third Lady Rebel School Day, which is set for Wednesday, Jan. 8 against defending MW champion Boise State with a 12 pm start in the Cox Pavilion. Last year 3,000 local elementary students attended the game after taking a tour of the UNLV campus. National Girls & Women In Sport Day is set for Saturday, Feb. 1 at UNLV before a home contest against Colorado State, the Play4Kay Breast Cancer Awareness contest will be Feb. 15 against New Mexico, and the regular season will conclude with a Feb. 27 Senior Night game against San Jose State.
This season's MW Tournament will again be held in the Thomas & Mack Center. The first round will begin Sunday, March 1 with three games, and then four more games will be played March 2, and the semifinals at night March 3. The championship game will be played Wednesday, March 4.
Though the Lady Rebels graduated four senior starters, they return a pair of award winners from the 2018-19 season, MW 6th Player of the Year
Rodjanae Wade as well as MW All-Defensive team member
Bailey Thomas, while six freshmen will join the 2019-20 UNLV squad.
TICKETS: Season tickets for the 2019-20 Lady Rebel season are now on sale, starting at just $60 for the 16-game home slate ($50 for seniors), which includes December's Duel In The Desert event as well. Fans can purchase at either UNLVtickets.com or by calling 702-739-FANS (3267).
UNLV Lady Rebel 2019-20 Non-Conference Opponent Briefs
**Game 7 will be the MW opener against Fresno State**
Game 1 - CSU Fullerton
Saturday, Nov. 9 - Cox Pavilion
2018-19 Record: 14-16
Series Record: UNLV leads 34-8
Notes: This will be the eighth year UNLV has opened the season in Las Vegas, and the sixth time in the past eight years the opener will be played in the Thomas & Mack Center ... The series between the Lady Rebels and the Titans is tied for the third-longest series against a non-conference opponent in team history at 42 meetings.
Game 2 - Duke
Thursday, Nov. 14 - Thomas & Mack Center
2018-19 Record: 15-15
Series Record: Duke leads 1-0.
Notes: The Blue Devils won the first meeting between the two teams 66-38 over an injury-ravaged Lady Rebel squad Dec. 6, 2018 in Durham, North Carolina ... Duke will be the first-ever women's basketball team from the ACC to play in the Thomas & Mack Center.
Game 3 - Southern Utah
Tuesday, Nov. 19 - Cedar City, Utah
2018-19 Record: 8-23
Series Record: UNLV leads 11-4
Notes: UNLV will be making its first trip to Cedar City since Dec. 13, 2014, a 93-84 loss to the Thunderbirds.
Game 4 - South Carolina State
Saturday, Nov. 23 - Cox Pavilion
2018-19 Record: 16-16
Series Record: South Carolina State leads 1-0.
Notes: The Bulldogs stunned the Lady Rebels 58-49 a year ago on the second game of a trip to the Carolinas on Dec. 8, 2018.
Game 5 - Elon
Lady Rebel Round-Up First Round
Saturday, Nov. 30 - Cox Pavilion
2018-19 Record: 9-21
Series Record: 1-0
Notes: This is the first meeting between the Lady Rebels and the Phoenix since a 70-40 win by UNLV in the Lady Rebel Shootout first round on Nov. 24, 2007.
Potential Game 6 - IUPUI
Lady Rebel Round-Up Consolation/Championship Game
Sunday, Dec. 1 - Cox Pavilion
2018-19 Record: 20
-12 (WNIT First Round)
Series Record: First Meeting
Notes: This would be the second straight year UNLV has faced a team from the Horizon League (Wright State in 2018-19).
Potential Game 6 - St. John's
Lady Rebel Round-Up Consolation/Championship Game
Sunday, Dec. 1 - Cox Pavilion
2018-19 Record: 15-16
Series Record: First Meeting
Notes: UNLV last played a team from the BIG EAST on Dec. 20, 2013, a 66-56 loss in the Cox Pavilion to Creighton in the Duel In The Desert.
Game 8 - at Pepperdine
Saturday, Dec. 7 - Malibu, California
2018-19 Record: 22-12 (WNIT Third Round)
Series Record: 6-2
Notes: UNLV will be playing in Malibu for just the second time in the past 26 years ... The Lady Rebels have won two straight in the series, including a 68-61 road victory on Dec. 9, 2016.
Game 9 - at USC
Saturday, Dec. 14 - Los Angeles, California
2018-19 Record: 17-13
Series Record: The series is tied at 5-5.
Notes: This is the fourth meeting in five years for the two schools ... UNLV is 2-2 all-time against the Trojans in Los Angeles ... This is the 10th straight season the Lady Rebels will play a team from the Pac-12.
Game 10 - at Grand Canyon
Monday, Dec. 16 - Phoenix, Arizona
2018-19 Record: 7-20
Series Record: UNLV leads 1-0.
Notes: The previous meeting between the teams was a 76-47 UNLV victory on Nov. 19, 2017 in Las Vegas ... This marks the first-ever game for the Lady Rebels in Phoenix, which is also the hometown of current senior guard
Mara Kemmer.
Game 11 - Virginia
Duel In The Desert First Round
Friday, Dec. 20 - Cox Pavilion
2018-19 Record: 12-19
Series Record: Virginia leads 1-0.
Notes: UNLV and Virginia have met just once before when the 15th-ranked Cavaliers handed the Lady Rebels a 74-73 loss in Charlottesville on Dec. 2, 1989 ... That was one of just three total losses for the Lady Rebels during the 1989-90 season, in which they reached No. 2 in the national rankings and finished 28-3 overall.
Potential Game 12 - Mississippi State
Duel In The Desert - Third Place/Championship Game
Saturday, Dec. 21 - Cox Pavilion
2018-19 Record: 33-3 (NCAA Elite Eight)
Series Record: UNLV leads 2-1
Notes: This is Mississippi State's second appearance in the last three years in the Duel In The Desert ... Two years ago the Bulldogs defeated UNLV 103-63 on the way to a national championship game appearance ... UNLV is 2-1 against teams the SEC over the past three seasons, with wins over Ole Miss (2016-17) and Florida (2018-19).
Potential Game 12 - South Florida
Duel In The Desert - Third Place/Championship Game
Saturday, Dec. 21 - Cox Pavilion
2018-19 Record: 19-16 (WNIT Second Round)
Series Record: USF leads 3-1.
Notes: The teams last met in the fifth place game of the 2016 Play4Kay Tournament held in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, won by the Bulls on Dec. 21 ... This would be the third December tournament contest between the two schools, as they also met in the 2010 BTI Classic held in the Thomas & Mack Center ... USF won that game 59-54 in overtime on Dec. 18.
-UNLV-
