No four-peat: UNLV women fall in MWC semis

A 10-point halftime deficit in Tuesday’s Mountain West tournament semifinal was no cause for concern for the UNLV women’s basketball team.

Three straight conference championships had helped the Scarlet and Gray build an aura of invincibility, and Monday’s comeback victory over Boise State only bolstered that.

When sophomore star Amarachi Kimpson opened the second half with a driving 3-point play, converting an acrobatic finish and making the free throw to cut the deficit to seven, another dramatic win seemed inevitable.

Instead, a plucky San Diego State team responded with an immediate 10-0 run, pushing its lead to 40-23 midway through the third quarter. Aura or no, it sent UNLV reeling, and for the first time in a long time the champs were not able to recover.

The magic ran out.

That’s the simplest way to explain how top-seeded UNLV fell, 71-59, ending the program’s quest for a Mountain West four-peat and a fourth straight bid to the NCAA Tournament.

San Diego State pushed its lead as high as 21 points in the second half, and though UNLV trimmed the deficit to seven in the fourth quarter, there were no miracles left to conjure.

UNLV finishes the season 25-7 overall and, for the first time since March of 2021, will not celebrate a conference title on the court at the Thomas & Mack Center.

After the game, head coach Lindy La Rocque said UNLV finally exhausted its reserve of championship moments.

“We dug ourselves a little bit too big of a hole we couldn't climb out of,” La Rocque said.

Shooting goes cold

UNLV picked the worst time to go ice-cold from the perimeter.

La Rocque’s squad came into the game shooting 35.2% from long range, good for 35^th in the country. But as Tuesday’s semifinal contest wore on, it became clear the 3-point arc was not going to save the Scarlet and Gray.

UNLV hoisted 30 attempts from deep and hit just seven, and two of those makes came in the final minutes after the outcome had been decided. If a handful of those shots had gone in, the game would have been entirely different and the Scarlet and Gray may have been able to tap into their championship pedigree to pull it out.

But they didn’t go in.

The star backcourt of Kimpson and senior Kiara Jackson combined to make 3-of-14. Aside from senior Alyssa Brown’s 3-of-8 showing, no other UNLV player made more than one triple.

It was an uncharacteristic performance, and a fatal one.

“We were taking quick shots,” Jackson said. “We were rushing. We got a little nervous, just out of character.

Sad exit for seniors

As Brown and Jackson took the podium for their post-game media session, Brown told the assembled media that she had just managed to stop crying.

A couple minutes later, both players were in tears again.

It was an emotional goodbye for a group of seniors that has guided UNLV to the best stretch in program history. Jackson and Brown leave with an overall record of 112-20, with four Mountain West regular-season titles, three tournament crowns and three NCAA Tournament appearances.

Brown, last year’s MWC tournament MVP, explained why it’s going to be so tough to close the book on the 2024-25 season.

“The love I have for the program and Lindy, for the staff, there's no words for it,” Brown said. “I've had a great time at UNLV. I'm super proud of the squad. It's something that's really special to be a part of.”

La Rocque called this group of seniors her favorite because it was the first class to commit to her after she was named head coach in 2020.

Jackson went from being the conferences Freshman of the Year in 2022 to a three-time all-conference selection.

“It means a lot,” Jackson said, barely holding back a wave of tears. “Even though we lost tonight, we definitely made our legacy in this league.”

La Rocque was succinct in explaining why the loss was so devastating.

“When you're at the top, when you get knocked off, the fall is long and hard and it hurts,” she said.

Program in good hands

Though UNLV will say goodbye to some program cornerstones, there is a foundation in place to continue winning — with eyes on contending again in 2025-26.

It starts with Kimpson, an explosive scoring guard who blossomed into an All-Mountain West first team selection this season. She averaged a team-high 14.4 points and poured in 29 points in Monday’s win over Boise State.

San Diego State held Kimpson to 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting, but she is clearly ready to take over as the face of the UNLV program.

In the frontcourt, starting forward McKinna Brackens is set to return as a junior next season, and 6-foot-2 Meadow Roland was named Mountain West Freshman of the Year and Sixth Player of the Year after averaging 10.3 points and 6.0 rebounds.

Season not over?

La Rocque made it clear in her post-game media session that she expects UNLV to continue playing this season. She just doesn’t know where yet.

The loss likely dashes the program’s hopes of making the NCAA Tournament. They entered the game at No. 46 in the NET rankings and projected as a 12 seed, so another defeat at the hands of a middling San Diego State squad is almost sure to knock the Scarlet and Gray off the bubble.

But La Rocque was adamant that they’ll find somewhere to keep playing.

“We are playing,” she said. “We are playing in postseason. I couldn't tell you what tournament, but we are playing. Whichever one we get in, we expect to win and we're going to play our butt off.

San Diego State coach Stacie Terry-Hutson advocated for UNLV to claim an at-large bid to the big dance.

“UNLV deserves to be in the NCAA Tournament,” Terry-Hutson said. “Lindy has done everything she can. She has strengthened their schedule. They've gone out and played some really tough teams. They beat some good teams. They dominated this league, so I think they deserve to be in the NCAA.”

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.