UNLV Women’s Basketball defeated the San Jose State Spartans 91-55 at the Cox Pavilion to make its record 13-1 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
The Lady Rebels earned a spot in the Top 25 on the Jan. 8 AP and Coaches Poll and the victory marks UNLV’s 27th win in a row against Mountain West opponents.
Desi-Rae Young led the UNLV offense finishing with 24 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
Alyssa Brown controlled the paint and kept the ball in the Rebels’ possession with her 14 rebounds.
Young and Brown’s ability to control the paint allowed for more opportunities from beyond the arc and Alyssa Durazo-Frescas and Kiara Jackson. Durazo-Frescas and Jackson combined for seven 3-pointers against the Spartans.
The bright spot for the Spartans at Cox Pavilion was the most recent Mountain West Freshman of the Week, Jyah LoVett who led the team in scoring with 26 points.
UNLV’s Preseason Mountain West Co-Freshman of the Year Amarachi Kimpson contributed to the Lady Rebels victory with 10 points.
“She’s continuing to blossom,” UNLV Head Coach Lindy La Rocque said. “Being a point guard is really tough. As a freshman she’s learning every game. She’s making big time plays scoring points being a great defender. She’s going to be a critical piece to our success.”
Marisa Davis-Jones made the first basket of the game for the Spartans however the Rebels bounced back scoring nine unanswered points to get an early 9-2 lead.
The Lady Rebels extended its lead with excellent ball movement to find Durazo-Frescas for back-to-back 3-pointers to make the score 15-4 with 6:46 remaining in the first quarter.
“I thought the ball movement in the first half was maybe the best I’ve seen,” La Rocque said. “When you don’t have to dribble the ball and you’re sharing it like that and shooting are making shots then you get a lot of assists.”
The Lady Rebels continued to dominate from beyond the arc with Jackson and Kimpson splashing from downtown to extend the Lady Rebel lead to 26-8 in the backend of the first quarter.
Young dominated the paint making a layup and a tip-in to tally her up to six points at the end of the first quarter and to make the Lady Rebels lead 32-8.
McKinna Brackens started the second quarter making a statement on defense with a block that translated to offense with Jasmyn Lott making two free throws after drawing a foul to make the score 34-8.
The Lady Rebels continued to extend its lead with Young and Jackson surpassing double-digits to make the score 52-22 at the half.
Durazo-Frescas kept the momentum going, knocking down a 3-pointer to start off the second half.
Young continued to show her presence at the paint tallying up 20 points and six rebounds midway through the third quarter to make the score 63-31.
Kimpson started to heat up in the backend of the quarter knocking down three baskets to extend the Lady Rebels lead to 75-37.
In the fourth quarter the Lady Rebels continued to extend its lead and went on to defeat the Spartans 91-55.
Up Next:
The Lady Rebels will travel on the road to the Air Force Academy to play the Falcons on Jan. 13 at noon. Watch the game live on the Mountain West Network.
