LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) — One down, two to go.

No. 21 UNLV (29-2) began their Mountain West Championship title defense by demolishing in-state rival UNR, 84-47, Monday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The 37-point margin of victory was the fourth-largest in the tournament's history and the biggest win outside of the first round.

UNLV will return Tuesday at 5 p.m. to play 5-seed San Diego State, a 69-68 winner over 4-seed New Mexico. 

Down 8-2, Essence Booker hit the first of five consecutive 3-pointers made by the Lady Rebels. The momentum carried UNLV to an 11-0 scoring run in a minute-and-a-half as they took the lead and never looked back.

Booker and Justice Ethridge each scored 16 points to lead the Lady Rebels as UNR seemed content to double all-conference center Desi-Rae Young. UNLV seemed determined to make the Wolf Pack pay for the slight.

Booker hit four 3-pointers as the Lady Rebels shot 13-for-26 from beyond the arc.

"Yeah, she's a tournament player," UNLV Head Coach Lindy La Rocque said of Booker. "I know she's going to show up in the biggest moments for us and lead our team. You know, again, her, Desi, Justice, really all of them, they kind of got the look in their eye of we're going to do whatever it takes."

UNLV outscored UNR 39-11 in the final 15 minutes of the first half. The Wolf Pack scored just once and had five turnovers in the seven minutes before halftime.

UNLV led 47-23 at halftime.

By the 8-minute mark of the third period, the Lady Rebels doubled-up UNR 50-25 on Ethridge's 3-pointer.

Young had a season-low eight points, but it didn't matter Monday as every Lady Rebel scored in the rout.

"I think something special about us is every player on our team contributes," Ethridge said. "When you stop one of us, there's always somebody coming next. If we play together, nobody can stop us."

The Lady Rebels set a program record for wins in a season and swept the season against the Wolf Pack after winning twice during the regular season.