Miller Out as Coach

As I wrote earlier, the UNLV Lady Rebels basketball coach Regina Miller, has been fired as head Coach reports unlvrebels.com. Both Miller and Director of athletics Mike Hamrick are refusing to comment on the issue.

UNLV Turns Ice Cold

The score of the UNLV Runnin Rebels last game this season was 75 to 56 as they lost to the Kansas Jayhawks in the NCAA tournament Saturday afternoon.

In the first half of the game the Rebels were able to hang right in there with the Jayhawks with their fast-paced defense. The Vegas team had an answer for every Jayhawk shot and were guarding every shooter well. Going into the half the Rebels were only down by five and looked like they might actually have a chance at beating the number one seeded Jayhawks. However, in the second half the Rebels shooting went ice cold as they only made three field goals in a span of 15 minutes. Their only points came from the free throw line, where the games leading scorer, UNLV guard Wink Adams, was 15 for 17 from the charity stripe. Adams finished the game with a career high 25 points.

The only other player in double digits for the Rebels was senior guard Curtis Terry who had 12 points, only two of which came in the second half. Forward Joe Darger also contributed nine points before fouling out of the game with nine minutes left to play. In the previous game against Kent State, the Rebels received offensive help from every player, but in this game it was all about Adams. He was the only one that could shoot the ball in spite of the fact that the guy guarding him was significantly taller. In order for the Rebels to make it further in the NCAA tournament next year they will need to get some more size and spread the ball around a little bit better, oh and keep their already impressive defense.

UNLV vs Southern Utah

      The UNLV Runnin Rebels baseball team hit the diamond once again on Tuesday night to take on the Southern Utah Thunderbirds in a non-conference game. Approximetly 334 fans saw the Rebels win by a score of 6-4 thanks to an outstanding bullpen performance.

Thomas Whitsett, Michael Goodman, and Adam Moser threw a total of 5.1 innings giving up only two hits between them. Whitsett threw a total of 2.1 innings earning him the victory. The biggest coup was the fourth inning when he struck out thunderbird hitter Bucky Aona with the bases loaded to keep the game tied at four.

       UNLV struck first blood scoring four runs in the first two innings. Steve Rinaudo got things started in the first with an RBI single, J.J. Sferra started the rally in the second inning with an RBI singled that lead to Jarred Frierson scoring on a throwing error. Outfielder Jesse Wright would later bring in the fourth run with a sacrifice fly.

       However, Aona would lead the SUU charge in the top of the third driving in two runs and then later scoring himself thanks to a throwing error by Rebel outfielder Rance Roundy. The Thunderbirds would tie the game in the their half of the fourth, but that would be as close as they got to winning.

         In the bottom of the fourth inning UNLV bounced back with Wright hitting another sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to give the Rebels a 5-4 lead. In the bottom of the sixth inning the rebels added an insurance run compliments of Sferra. Two runs would prove to be more than enough with the Rebel bullpen throwing lights out.

        The Rebels now leave the friendly confines of Earl E. Wilson stadium and leave for a six-game road trip. The first of which is a three-game set with conference rival New Mexico. The Rebels then travel to California to take on Cal St. Fullerton. UNLV will return home on March 25^th to take on Reno at 4 p.m.

MWC Playoffs

          Thursday at 6 p.m. the UNLV Runnin Rebels basketball team will take on the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs in the first round of the Mountain West Conference playoffs.  The Rebels won both regular season games by at least 15 points and are expected to do the same on Thursday. The last meeting between the two took place on march 1st in a game where both Wink Adams and Joe Darger had 15 points. The Rebels opened that game on a 12-4 run and led by double digits going into the break and never looked back.

            The Rebels enter the tournament on a 12 game winning streak inside the Thomas and Mack. When playing at home the Rebels have shown that it will take a lot to beat them on their home turf.

UNLV baseball takes on Wildcats

On Tuesday night the UNLV mens basketball team was not the only one in action as the Runnin Rebel baseball team also hit the diamond. UNLV traveled to Tucson to take on the number one ranked wildcats of the University of Arizona.

UNLV relief pitcher Michael Goodman took the loss after giving up a solo homerun to C.J. Ziegler in the bottom of the seventh inning to snap a 5-5 tie. With the loss UNLV dropped to 5-4 on the young season as U of A improved to 6-1. The action began when UNLV loaded the bases which followed by Steve Rinaudo taking a 1-1, two out pitch to center field to clear the bases. The hit gave UNLV a 3-2 lead, but a three run fifth would put UA back on top. The Rebels would only tie the game, but never again lead. The series concludes on wednesday night.

Rebels lose to Lobos

         Tuesday night the  Runnin Rebels basketball team lost by a score of 59-45, accepting defeat by the New Mexico Lobos. The Lobos (23-7, 10-5 mountain west) were able to snap a four game losing streak thanks to senior J.R. Giddens who had 17 points and 15 rebounds. UNLV (22-7, 11-4 Mountain West Conference) was lead by guard Wink Adams who lead the team with only 12 points. UNLV as a team only shot 33 percent from the floor hitting only 18 of 54 shots.

        Just as the Rebels began to close the gap, Gidden threw down a huge slam dunk that kept all 18,018 New Mexico fans electrified which threw off the momentum of UNLV. The Rebels will now turn their attention to the Utah Utes in their final regular season home game this Saturday inside the Thomas and Mack at one o’clock. All fans be sure to wear wight as it is white out the Mack night.

Rebels vs Aztecs

          Tuesday night at the Thomas and Mack, UNLV dominated the San Diego State University Aztecs by a final score of 68-58. Guard Wink Adams led the victory with a game high 23 points. Also contributing to the win was forward Joe Darger with 13 points and guard Rene Rougeau who had 10 points, nine rebounds and three steals to help catapult UNLV to a 21-6 overall record and a 10-3 conference record leaving UNLV one game behind BYU in the confrence standings.

          Going into the half the Rebels were down 33-31, but a 13-3 run to start the second half took the wind out of SDSU and UNLV never looked back. UNLV will hit the hardwood again this Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. to take on Texas Christian University inside the Thomas and Mack center.

UNLV vs Wyoming

            The UNLV Runnin Rebels basketball team improved to 20-6 overall and 9-3 in conference play with a win Saturday afternoon against the Wyoming Cowboys. With a final score of 73-65 in favor of UNLV, they now turn their attention to the San Diego State Aztecs.

            Leading the Rebels to victory was guard Wink Adams who finished the game with 23 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Rene Rougeau added 16 points and Matt Shaw put up another 12.

            Midway through the first half Wyoming tied the game at 17. UNLV would respond with a 17-9 run including 10 points from Adams to take a 34-26 lead going into halftime. UNLV would never look back.

UNLV vs Central Michigan

        In Saturday’s contest the Rebels baseball team lost a close one to Central Michigan University with a final score of 3-2 to even their record at 1-1.

         UNLV jumped out to an early two run lead in the first inning and was kept quiet the rest of the night by CMU starter Steve Teno who threw a complete game to earn himself and his team a victory.

         The Rebels runs came when lead-off hitter J.J. Sferra hit a triple down the right field line followed by another triple by Scruggs. A sacrifice fly by Braden Walker would give UNLV their second and final run.

Rebel starting pitcher Cory Hales kept CMU off balance until the top of the fifth when two past balls allowed CMU to cut the lead in half. A two RBI triple by CMU in the top of the sixth inning off of pitcher Troy Watson would give them the tying and go-ahead runs.

        UNLV third baseman Steve Rinaudo went 4-4 in the contest and played very strong defensively starting two double plays. UNLV will close the series tomorrow at noon at Earl Wilson Stadium.

Womens basketball downhill

For the last two or three years the women’s basketball team at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas has struggled to earn a winning record. The only real leader has been senior guard Sequoia Holmes who is leading the team in virtually every category.

Holmes has lead the team in points and steals for the past two seasons and has been the only solid player for the Lady Rebels. She has been the only one to show real leadership and that she truly does love the game of basketball more than anything else. However who will take her place when she graduates?  ”Dominique Harris has the potential to be the next leader, (after Holmes graduates) but no one else unless the freshman greatly improve over the summer,” said a source who is in the UNLV athletic department who wishes to remain anonymous via e-mail.  The players are only half of the problem, the other half lies on the shoulders of the coaching staff.

Head coach Regina Miller has done a great job coaching the Lady Rebels, but she may be on a downhill slope. When Miller first came to UNLV in 1998 she turned a dismal program into a contender and shocked a lot of people. In the first of her 10 years at UNLV she took a team that had only won four games in the past three years to one of the most improved teams in Division I women’s college basketball.

Last season Miller suffered her fist loosing season at UNLV (14-15) when just the season before UNLV had an 18-12 record. The Lady Rebels suffered many key injuries, but were not able to rise above them. “You can point to the 20005-06 team who lost five of their seven best players to graduation. The team has not yet been able to recover from that,” said an anonymous source. “A long string of several injuries also hurt the team.”

They also would generally only show up to play one half of the game. The Ladies would play great in the first half then forget how to play basketball in the second. Bad luck and recruting has also played to the disadvantage of the Lady Rebels. “The recruting classes that were meant to replace those five graduating seniors have not panned out. They have either not worked out as well as the coaches thought, did not have good enough grades, or lost some to transfers.” said my source.

Two things that need to take place for the Lady Rebels to be a contender again are better scouting and less complacency among the players. “The best team will be the one that is very athletic and that can run and press all game long, but thats what this coaching staff is best at coaching.” said an anonymous source. Whatever the case may be UNLV needs to figure something out fast before the womens basketball program becomes the biggest gamble in Las Vegas.