3 Lady Rebels honored by Mountain West Conference

UNLV Rebels guard Brooke Johnson (2) looks for a shot while being guarded by New Mexico Lobos guard Jasmine Smith (10) at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018. UNLV won 74-62. Patrick Connolly Las Vegas Review-Journal @PConnPie

UNLV Lady Rebels players celebrate their regular season Mountain West championship win after defeating Utah State at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas on Friday, March 2, 2018. Chase Stevens Las Vegas Review-Journal @csstevensphoto

UNLV Lady Rebels players celebrate their regular season Mountain West championship win with their coach Kathy Olivier, red jacket, after defeating Utah State at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas on Friday, March 2, 2018. Chase Stevens Las Vegas Review-Journal @csstevensphoto

UNLV Lady Rebels guard Nikki Wheatley (10) and forward Simone Sheppard (5) put on hats to celebrate their regular season Mountain West championship win after defeating Utah State at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas on Friday, March 2, 2018. Chase Stevens Las Vegas Review-Journal @csstevensphoto

UNLV Lady Rebels players, including guard Brooke Johnson, left, and forward Alyssa Anderson (20), right, celebrate their regular season Mountain West championship win after defeating Utah State at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas on Friday, March 2, 2018. Chase Stevens Las Vegas Review-Journal @csstevensphoto

A trio of Lady Rebels were honored Monday by the Mountain West, giving UNLV a league-high honorees.

Senior Brooke Johnson was named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, while both Johnson and junior Katie Powell were named to the All-Defensive team.

“I think she’s the best defender in the conference,” coach Kathy Olivier said of Johnson last month. “She takes so much pride in her defense.”

Johnson is the first Lady Rebel to earn those honors since Sequoia Holmes in 2007-08.

Both Johnson and Powell was also included on the All-Conference team, which was comprised of 10 players. Redshirt junior guard Nikki Wheatley was one of three All-Conference Honorable Mentions.

Johnson was the Lady Rebels with 16.0 points per game, good for sixth in the conference, and 4.1 assists per game, while Powell added 15.8 points along with 8.8 rebounds per contest, second in the conference. Wheatley finished the regular season at 13.6 points per game along with 6.6 boards.

Wyoming’s Liv Roberts was named the Mountain West’s Player of the Year.

The Mountain West women’s tournament kicks off on Monday at the Thomas & Mack Center. As the No. 2 seed, the Lady Rebels have a bye on Monday and will play Tuesday at 6 p.m. against the winner of Nevada and San Diego State.

More Rebels: Follow all of our UNLV coverage online at reviewjournal.com/Rebels and @RJRebels on Twitter.

Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BetsyHelfand on Twitter.