Lady Rebels picked to finish 5th in Mountain West
UNLV women’s basketball was predicted to finish fifth in the Mountain West standings this season, according to the 2017-18 Mountain West preseason poll that was released by the league office Wednesday.
The preseason poll, as well as the preseason all-conference team, was voted on by all 11 head coaches as well as select media members.
The Lady Rebels bring back four starters from last year’s squad that posted a 22-11 overall record and reached the postseason for the first time since 2012 with an at-large bid to the WNIT. One of those starters is junior guard Nikki Wheatley, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last season, but received a medical redshirt and returns to the lineup as the starting point guard.
UNLV will have to replace Dakota Gonzalez (13.2 points per game), an All-Mountain West selection in 2016-17, along with her twin Dylan (9.9 points per game), following their graduation from UNLV this past May.
Boise State, the 2017 Mountain West Tournament champions, is this year’s preseason favorite with 221 points and seven first-place votes.
“It’s very clear that it’s a wide open conference race this year and obviously the voters in the poll agree with five teams receiving multiple first-place votes,” said UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier. “I’ve always said that in the Mountain West you need to be ready to fight every night, it doesn’t matter who the team is, you have to be ready for a battle. As for the Lady Rebels, we’re a very focused group this year. It’s a great feeling to know we have Nikki back this year, and with Brooke (Johnson) joining her in the backcourt for the ninth straight year (going back to their club days), and our depth in the post, we have a lot of options. As long as everyone steps up we should be in good shape.”
The Lady Rebels open their season at Cox Pavilion on Nov. 10 against Portland State. UNLV season tickets are only $65 for 16 home games for adults, and $50 for seniors and UNLV faculty/staff. For information on purchasing season tickets call 702-739-FANS or visit UNLVtickets.com. Youth 12 and under are free to all Lady Rebel games.
