LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) — This year's Lady Rebels team achieved milestones not reached by the program in decades. It was only fitting they crossed one more off the list.
Top-seeded UNLV reached the Air Force Reserve Mountain West Women's Basketball Championship Game for the first time since 2002 after flying past No. 5-seed Air Force 61-50 Tuesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.
UNLV will face the winner of the semifinal between No. 2-seed New Mexico and No. 6-seed Colorado State.
Essence Booker scored 17 points and
Desi-Rae Young added 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Lady Rebels.
"Desi showed why she's the player of the year in the league and Essence does what she does and puts the game away for us," UNLV head coach
Lindy La Rocque said. "I'm proud of our whole group and the effort that we gave and we gave ourselves an opportunity to play in the championship."
Booker scored nine in the final 8 ½ minutes, including eight straight in a 60-second span to extend UNLV's lead from 44-39 to a double-digit margin it would hold the rest of the game.
Young shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and drew seven of the 22 team fouls Air Force that would hamper Air Force. The 6-foot-1 center troubled the Falcons in the paint and only spared more torment due to foul trouble that limited her to 25 minutes.
UNLV played the aggressor from the opening tip, collecting the first seven rebounds and frustrating Air Force into a 3-for-17 3-point shooting performance. The Lady Rebels rarely left an open shooter and held the Falcons to a season-low 28 percent shooting from a season-high 70 field goal attempts.
Despite the inefficiency, Air Force remained within two field goals for much of the first 30 minutes. UNLV led 42-37 entering the fourth period.
Khayla Rooks' deflected Cierra Winters' layup and
Justice Ethridge ran the ball coast-to-coast for a an easy 2. Booker followed on the next possession drawing a foul on a made driving layup to start her 8-point series.
"I'm proud of my teammates and this game," Young said. "I'm trying to make a comeback from last year. We lost in the beginning and I just want to make it all the way through, even make it to the big dance. That's something that I've been hoping for, just want to put the city on my back and show them that I represent for them."
The Lady Rebels have never won the Mountain West Championship tournament.
But that's just another box waiting to be checked.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME: While the Lady Rebels play the majority of their home games in the Cox Pavilion, just steps away from the Thomas & Mack Center, UNLV had three regular-season games in the tournament host arena. After Tuesday's semifinal, UNLV is now 5-0 inside the TMC this season with an average margin of victory of 24.2 points.
SIXTH SENSE:
Nneka Obiazor, the Mountain West's Sixth Player of the Year, turned in another double-figure scoring performance with 10 points against Air Force. Obiazor and Young, the Mountain West Player of the Year, have combined for 58 points and 36 rebounds through two tournament games.
IN IT TO WIN IT: Freshman guard
Kiara Jackson recorded a season-high 31 minutes on the court Tuesday. Jackson claimed a career-best six rebounds.
WHATEVER IT TAKES: UNLV's 61 points were its fewest scored in a victory this season. The previous low was from a 66-60 win over Wyoming on Dec. 31.
