LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - Keyana Wilfred was a strong asset to the Lady Rebels team, as the 6-3 center from Mitchel, Nebraska made her impact on the UNLV squad this year after appearing in just 15 games as a freshman. In 2020-21, she played in 23 of 24 games while making her first three career starts. She would finish seventh on the team in scoring with 4.8 points per game and her 3.2 rebounds per contest was sixth-best for the Lady Rebels. She was strong around the basket, connecting on 48.8% of her attempts from the floor, and notched one double-double on the season (11 points, 10 rebounds against Northern Arizona) while also scoring a career-high 18 against Wyoming in the first conference victory of the season for UNLV.

Unfortunately, all her improvements and increase in minutes per game came in a year where almost no one could see Keyana play live, as COVID-19 restricted fan access to games for most of the season. What were once arenas full of family and friends were replaced with cardboard cuts and silence. Even though most of the games were played at an empty Cox Pavilion, Keyana and the Lady Rebels found a way to make the most out of a fan-less situation they had never experienced before in high school or college.

"It definitely felt empty. We had to create our own energy and stuff like that because sometimes during games we feed off of the crowd and it's always nice to see your family in the stands. But this year I felt like we all came together and we became our own family. We became our own support system and it was just really nice to see all the positivity from everyone on the bench to the players on the court, it was a lot of fun."

When it came to playing during these unprecedented times, Keyana felt scared but ultimately overcame it once protocols were in place. She expresses how many people around her were catching the virus early on, which was a little scary, but afterwards, felt better once more precautions were taken. 

"Once we got into everything and they started doing testing and being extra cautious about washing everything and making sure our hands are clean and stuff like that, I felt pretty safe. Once they had all those protocols in place, the coaching was very cautious about what they were doing, they wore gloves and all that stuff. I feel like there was just a lot of effort into making us feel safe and that was just big, for me at least."

As a team, Keyana acknowledged her team and their mentality when it came to being COVID-19 conscious. 

"Luckily during the season no one caught it and everyone was very aware of what we are doing, where we are going, who we are with. It was nice that everyone put in the same effort by not being around a lot of people at one time."

Keyana was one of the few Lady Rebels who was there for the transition of coaching staffs between her freshman and sophomore seasons. Although unsure how it would go, her experience was better than she expected and she's very thankful for the response head coach Lindy La Rocque had when getting hit by all the obstacles throughout the season.

"Honestly, it was a lot smoother than I thought it would be. I personally clicked with all the coaches and they were just all very positive and it was the most positive energy I've ever had in my basketball career. And it was just a lot of fun but it was also strict and disciplined to where we were able to grow and develop as players and so I really appreciated like how they stayed focused on us. One thing she said that really caught my attention was when we had a few players opted out in the preseason. And she dealt with it by saying we have "all that we need right here". And she was right, and we have a great season with our team." 

Not only did she adapt nicely to her new coach, now she hopes to live up to her own expectations for another great season for 2021-22. 

"For next year, I'm expecting it to be harder. Like now that we know her, what type of culture she wants and what she expects from us, I think she's going to push us and make us push the younger girls to have higher expectations, so they know they have to work harder to get the success that we want."

While it times it was a crazy season like this one, there was also room for lessons and takeaways. Keyana took time after the season to appreciate the little things that to many mean nothing, but to her meant a lot."

"Enjoy the little things because there's always moments of happiness that sometimes gets drowned by all the things that are going on. And there were a lot of things that were going on in 2020. If you focus on the big things too much it can overwhelm you and overtake your day, so that's why the little moments are what count. Practices can be hard of course, but like with my teammates, they always made everything better and I was always laughing and having a good time and just being happy with them. That would be my biggest takeaway, in basketball and in life."

And as for a highlight of the season, she mentions the excitement of sweeping Fresno State, a highlight that is fond to many of the Lady Rebels. 

"That's never happened and we were undefeated on the road. It was a lot of fun and a lot of good energy."

Looking forward to next season, Keyana is very optimistic that despite everything that happened in 2020, she could get through anything thrown her way now. 

"Honestly I think that if I could get through last year, nothing else could faze me because so many things were thrown our way and we had to continue to adjust and adjust to regulations, to all types of things. I feel like because I went through that it prepared me a lot for literally anything that could be thrown in our way. I never thought I'd have to quarantine in my whole life so that was one of many adjustments. I'm going to continue to work hard though, especially for my team because I know how bad they want it and for the team to succeed, and I just want to try as hard as I can to make them proud of the Lady Rebels."