Kim Barnes Arico watched Sunday night’s NCAA tournament selection show, saw Michigan’s draw and thought to himself: Oh, UNLV, one of the hottest teams in the country. I didn’t want to get her.
The Michigan coach admitted she would be nervous in front of almost any potential opponent, but the UNLV concern is justified.
No. 6 Michigan will play No. 11 UNLV on Friday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (3pm ET, ESPNU).
The Lady Rebels are 31-2 — the third-most wins in women’s college basketball this season — and are on a 22-game winning streak. They are #22 in the AP poll and #25 in the Coaches poll.
- Advertisement -
The selection committee gave much less thought to UNLV, a reflection of poor scheduling that has carried the team to No. 51 on the NET. UNLV beat Hawaii, which received an automatic bid and received a 14 seed, and lost at 25 in Oklahoma State, an 8 seed. That’s it for the NCAA tournament teams on UNLV’s schedule this season.
Lindy La Rocque has flipped the program in her third season as head coach. At just 33, the former Stanford guard and assistant is one of the youngest coaches in college basketball.
Post player Desi-Rae Young, a 6-foot-1 junior, is UNLV’s star (18.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, 60 percent from the field). Missed for Mountain West Player of the Year – which she won last year – Young is a force in color.
She was one of three Lady Rebels on the 10-player all-conference team and one of two on the league’s 5-player all-defensive team. This is a balanced team that puts pressure on the ball and protects the rim.
UNLV drew a 13-seeded finish in last year’s tournament and at the start of the fourth quarter led 4-seeded Arizona on its home court by five points. Arizona escaped with a win. All but one of UNLV’s contributors from that game are still on the team.
- Advertisement -
“Our experience from last year will be tremendous in preparing for this year’s tournament,” La Rocque said after the selection show on the UNLV website.
Related: Healthy and battle-hardened, Michigan has another NCAA tournament run in its sights
ESPN’s Charlie Creme, best known for his bracket projections throughout the season, selected UNLV to beat Michigan. Sports Illustrated had six pundits post their entire brackets; on four Michigan advanced. The Athletic also chose Michigan to go ahead. Two 11-seeded players won a game last season (Michigan had one in the second round).
- Advertisement -
The Michigan-UNLV winner meets the winner between 3 seeds (and hosts) LSU and Hawaii.
Source
