Game 14: Women vs. UNLV

The #16/14 women's team faces UNLV (1-5) in the Four Points by Sheraton Invitational in New Orleans, LA tonight. GW (5-2) is coming off of a 80-55 loss at James Madison on Tuesday night. In that one, the Dukes outrebounded the Colonials 53-26, thanks in part to the fact that neither Whitney Allen nor Antelia Parrish played due to injuries.

The Lady Rebels, who were picked to finish sixth out of nine teams in the Mountain West Conference, return four starters from the team that went 14-15 and lost in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. UNLV is led by 6-1 senior guard/forward Sequoia Holmes (24.6 points, 6.4 rebounds per game this season), who was the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year a season ago. 5-10 junior guard Dominique Harris (11 points, 6.2 rebounds) is the only other Lady Rebel who averages double figures in scoring. Coach Regina Miller is 168-107 in her 10th season at UNLV; she is 228-207 in 16 years as a head coach.

Last weekend, UNLV lost both games of the Lady Rebel Classic held in Las Vegas, NV. On Saturday, the Lady Rebels' ferocious rally (down 12 with two minutes left) fell short as Oregon State held on for a 68-65 win. Holmes had a career-high 35 points in that one. UNLV's lone win of the season came against Long Beach State in their opener.

This is the fourth-ever meeting between these programs; GW is 2-1. The last meeting came on December 21, 1994 in Las Vegas, which the Colonials won 93-85. Coach Joe McKeown is 1-1 all-time against the Lady Rebels, with the sole loss coming in the 1993 WNIT.

The Colonials should win this one easily, even if Allen and Parrish, who are both questionable, don't suit up. The Lady Rebels don't have the talent to compete with a GW squad that should be hungry after what transpired in Harrisonburg on Tuesday.

Steven Smith and David Earl have the call for WRGW with Chase Carpenter and Ross Romano handling production duties. You can listen here starting at 6.40 p.m.

Game notes: The current senior class has only lost back-to-back games once...It happened in December 2004, as GW lost 64-40 at Oregon on December 4 and 76-70 at BYU on December 6...This is the first time the Colonials have played in New Orleans since they beat Missouri-Kansas City in the Green Wave Classic on December 2, 1994...Kimberly Beck is 21 assists shy of passing Kathy Marshall for the top spot in program history...McKeown is 13 wins shy of 500 for his career...UNLV lost to Richmond 68-59 in the Lady Rebel Classic on Friday...The Lady Rebels have lost two games by three points or less.

Starting lineups and other notes to follow from the WRGW studios and the Human Performance Center once we get closer to tip-off. Please check back later.

Update, 10.25 p.m. - Here were the starting lineups:

UNLV
G - Brittany Halberg (5-7 junior from Lake Oswego, OR)
G - Dominique Harris (5-10 junior from Los Angeles, CA)
G - Shannon Oberg (6-0 junior from Islip, NY)
F - Sequoia Holmes (6-1 senior from Las Vegas, NV)
C - Shamela Hampton (6-3 junior from Colorado Springs, CO)

GW
G - Stefani Munro (5-7 sophomore from Mount Clemens, MI)
G - Kimberly Beck (5-8 senior from Fairburn, GA)
G - Sarah-Jo Lawrence (5-11 senior from Rhoadesville, VA)
F - Jazmine Adair (6-3 junior from Washington, DC)
C - Jessica Adair (6-4 junior from Washington, DC)

The most shocking women's loss in a while. After leading 40-16 at intermission, UNLV outscores the Colonials 46-21 in the second half and wins 62-61. It's the first time GW has lost back-to-back games in nearly three years. The Colonials shot 2-16 (12.5%) from three and turned the ball over 21 times.

Sure, the injuries to Parrish and Allen, who didn't play today, make this team less effective, but there is certainly enough talent on the roster to beat a UNLV squad that had one win in six tries coming in.

Disappointing start to the season by a team that had such high expectations. If you thought the James Madison loss was bad, today's is an NCAA Tournament seeding killer. If GW runs the table from here on in, I can't see them getting anything higher than a five seed at best.

This team needs to get its act together quickly because the Samford squad they face tomorrow isn't bad. We'll be back then.