LAS VEGAS - (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV Lady Rebels turned in one of their best seasons ever in the Mountain West in the 2020-21 season, and were honored for their accomplishments by the league's coaches as a school-record three picked up MW best of the year honors, the league announced Sunday. First-year head coach Lindy La Rocque was named MW Coach of the Year, Bailey Thomas became the first Lady Rebel to earn back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year honors, and Desi-Rae Young was named the Freshman of the Year. All three are Las Vegas natives as well.

In addition to the trio, Nia Johnson was selected to the MW All-Conference team and Young was an honorable mention, the only freshman to earn all-conference recognition. Thomas picked up her third straight MW All-Defensive mention, while Young and Jade Thomas were selected to the MW All-Freshman Team.

La Rocque became the first Lady Rebel coach to be named MW Coach of the Year after leading the nation's sixth-younger roster to a second-place finish, tied for second-best in team history, despite being picked ninth in the preseason poll. UNLV's 13 conference victories was actually the most of any school in league play this year, and was the second-most wins in team history in MW games as well. She did all that with a roster that lost more offensive production from the previous year then any other team in the nation except for one, while UNLV was the only team in the nation with over 90% of its roster to start the season with just one combined Division I start. Perhaps even more impressive, La Rocque became the only coach in school history to go undefeated on the road in conference play as the Lady Rebels are a school-record 9-0 overall this season in road games, and have the nation's fifth-longest active road win streak. The second-youngest coach in Division I women's basketball, La Rocque's 15 wins this season (15-8 overall record) have her ranked second in the nation for wins among first-year head coaches. This is the first conference Coach of the Year award for the UNLV women's basketball program since Jim Bolla was the Big West Coach of the Year in 1989-90.

Thomas, team captain and a senior guard scheduled to receive her graduate degree this spring, not only picked up Defensive Player of the Year honors for a second straight season, she is the only player in team history with multiple years on the MW All-Defensive team. She was also named to the team in both 2018-19 and 2019-20. UNLV's defensive leader on the court, she set the tone for a Lady Rebel team that ranked among the league leaders in both scoring defense (4th at 65.4 ppg) and field goal defense (38.8%). One of the hardest working players in the conference, she almost never leaves the court, having played the full 40 minutes in seven of 18 MW contests and is currently second in the MW in minutes per game at 35.7. She finished the MW season eighth in steals per game at 1.6, and recorded multiple steals in nine of the 18 games. This is the third time in the last four years a Lady Rebel has earned the honor (Brooke Johnson in 2017-18), and sixth overall.

Young was a center who came to the Lady Rebels as an unranked recruit but by the end of the season became potentially the team's most valuable player. She led all conference freshmen in both scoring and rebounding at 12.7 ppg (11th overall) and 6.9 rpg (eighth overall). She also tied for the overall Mountain West lead in double-doubles with four in conference play. Young posted two 20-point performances during the season, and twice scored the game-winning basket in the final minute for a road victory for the Lady Rebels, most notably a layup with 11 seconds left for a one-point win at Fresno State on Feb. 27 that clinched the second place for UNLV. She became the third Lady Rebel to be named MW Freshman of the Year, and the first since Réjane Vérin in 2012-13. 

Johnson, a junior guard from Sacramento, California, earned all-conference honors after leading the Lady Rebels in scoring in her first year as a Division I starter. She ranks ninth in the league in scoring with 13.6 points per game, and posted three 20-point games, two of which were back-to-back 28-point performances that helped earn her a MW Player of the Week recognition. She is tied fourth in the MW for most 20+ point scoring games, and also ranks among the league leaders in steals with 1.3 per game (tied for 12th) and in three-point field goals per game with 1.9 (eighth).

Jade Thomas, Bailey's younger sister, picked up freshman team honors thanks to finishing third in scoring and fourth in rebounding among the league's freshman class. Her 7.6 points per game ranks her fifth overall on UNLV, while her 5.2 rebounds per contest is the third best on the squad. She excels on the defensive boards, tying for 11th in the league with 4.7 per game, and just like her sister plays among the most minutes of any player in the league, 35.2 per game to rank third in the conference.

As the second seed in the 2021 MW Championships, UNLV opens play in the quarterfinals on Monday at 5:30 pm against the winner of the seventh-seed Wyoming and 10th seed Utah State in the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

2020-21 All-Mountain West Honors

Player of the Year:  Haley Cavinder, Fresno State
Defensive Player of the Year: Bailey Thomas, UNLV
Newcomer of the Year: McKenna Hofschild, Colorado STate
Freshman of the Year: Desi-Rae Young, UNLV
Sixth Player of the Year: LaTascya Duff, New Mexico
Coach of the Year: Lindy La Rocque, UNLV

All-Conference Team
Jade Loville, Jr., G, Boise State
Lore Devos, Sr., G, Colorado State
McKenna Hofschild, So., G, Colorado State
Haley Cavinder, So., G, Fresno State
Hanna Cavinder, So., G, Fresno State
Da'Ja Hamilton, Jr., G, Nevada
Jaedyn De La Cerda, Sr., G, New Mexico
LaTascya Duff, Jr., G, New Mexico
Antonia Anderson, Sr., G/F, New Mexico
Nia Johnson, Jr., G, UNLV  

All-Conference Honorable Mention
Riley Snyder, Air Force
Maddi Utti, Fresno State
Ahlise Hurst, New Mexico
Desi-Rae Young, UNLV

All-Defensive Team
Kassady Huffman, Air Force
Alexis Mark, Boise State
Shaiquel McGruder, New Mexico
Bailey Thomas, UNLV
Quinn Weidemann, Wyoming

All-Freshman Team
Alexis Mark, F, Boise State
Abby Muse, F, Boise State
Kim Villalobos, G/F, San Diego State
Jade Thomas, G, UNLV
Desi-Rae Young, C, UNLV