Lady Rebels picked to win Mountain West

LAS VEGAS — They’ve been the Queens of the Mountain West for some time now. But UNLV has some unfinished business to attend to this upcoming women’s basketball season in order to reclaim their throne.

Lindy La Rocque’s Lady Rebels were picked to win the conference in the preseason poll released Wednesday in conjunction with the Mountain West Basketball Media Day at the palms Casino Resort. UNLV garnered 193 points, followed by Grand Canyon with 180, UC Davis (127), Hawaii (125) and New Mexico (123).

Following a tie for second with Colorado State a year ago and a 15-5 conference record (21-11 overall), the Lady Rebels have regrouped and are looking to reclaim the top spot, a place they have finished in four straight years before coming up short last season. The Rams are no longer a potential thorn in UNLV’s side as they’ve left for the Pacific 12 along with San Diego State, Utah State, Fresno State and Boise State.

“Honestly, we have a lot of new players, a new (coaching) staff,” La Rocque said. “We haven’t looked in the rear-view mirror.”

They’ll have the preseason Player of the Year in Meadow Roland, a junior forward who led the conference with 55 blocked shots and was second in rebounds per game with a 9.48 average. She also averaged 14.9 points and is the first Lady Rebel to earn preseason POY honors since Desi-Rae Young did so in 2022-23.

“Ultimately, it’s all about winning,” Roland said. “It won’t mean anything unless we get a championship ring.”

La Rocque said: “This isn’t the award Meadow wants. She wants the one at the end of the year."

La Rocque has a strong preseason schedule to get her team ready for conference play. They’ll face USC at T-Mobile Arena on Nov. 2, host Arizona State on Nov. 10 then travel to Connecticut to face the defending NCAA champion Huskies on Dec. 2 as part of a two-game East Coast road swing that will conclude at Boston University on Dec. 5.

UNLV has been to the NCAA Women’s Tournament three times during La Rocque’s tenure but has yet to win a game. Playing the likes of USC and UConn will get her team battle tested for conference play and perhaps an NCAA bid come March. The Lady Rebels last won an NCAA tourney game back in 1991, 35 years ago.

“Obviously, Upon is one of the most historic programs in the country,” La Rocque said. “It’ll help us prepare for the conference ands hopefully, in March.”

But first things first. The Mountain West rarely gets multiple bids to the NCAA Women’s Tournament. That hasn’t happened since 2010 when San Diego State and TCU both went dancing. La Rocque’s challenge is to get into the NCAAs. And to do that, it means winning the conference tournament in March at the Thomas & Mack Center. And to do that, it likely means coming out on top in the regular season.

So there’ll be no lack of motivation when the season begins against the Trojans on Nov. 2. La Rocque doesn’t see last year’s stumble as a wakeup call for her program. But just the same, she doesn’t want to see any further slippage going forward.

“We’re grateful for the recognition, it’s what we expect. ” La Rocque said of being picked to win the league and for her star forward to get individual preseason honors. “It does make it harder. We haven’t played a game yet and we have a target on our backs.”