UNLV women keep the faith in MWC tourney win over Boise State

There were plenty of opportunities for Lindy La Rocque to go off-script early in UNLV’s matchup against Boise State in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament. The Broncos made their first eight shots, scored on 11 of their first 12 possessions and opened a nine-point lead over top-seeded and heavily favored UNLV.

La Rocque could have started spending timeouts, making rash substitutions, changing up the defensive gameplan or a million other tweaks. She was content to let it play out, however, and she was rewarded as the Scarlet and Gray battled back for an 80-70 victory at the Thomas & Mack Center.

UNLV advances to Tuesday’s semifinal round and is now just two wins away from a fourth straight MWC tournament championship.

The ladies had to work for it against Boise State, which shot 68.8% in the first quarter and finished the period with a 25-18 lead. La Rocque felt her squad came out flat, but decided against doing anything drastic due to one reason: Trust.

UNLV hasn’t lost in the Mountain West tournament since the 2020-21 season, running up 10 consecutive do-or-die victories, so La Rocque had faith that her veterans would right the ship.

“The resilience, the toughness, the togetherness that it took to pull off this win was tremendous,” La Rocque said. “A lot of things did not go our way today, from missed layups to plays that we normally make, just a step off defensively, we got out-rebounded. You can kind of go down the line. But frankly we had more points and we found a way to win, and that’s the heart of this team. All year long, they find a way.”

Boise State came out hot, scoring relentlessly to build a 19-11 lead midway through the first quarter. UNLV didn’t get its first defensive stop until 4:15 was left in the quarter, but the Scarlet and Gray were able to stay close thanks to shooting from Amarachi Kimpson and Aaliyah Alexander, who each nailed a pair of 3-pointers to keep Boise State from completely running away and hiding.

The Scarlet and Gray finally drew even toward the end of the half. Kimpson drained a 3 from the top of the key, then got a steal and a breakaway layup to tie the score at the break, 34-34.

Boise State torched the nets again after the half, making eight of its first 12 shots to push ahead, 53-46 late in the third quarter.  It was 55-50 heading into the fourth, and that’s when UNLV summoned its championship pedigree, starting with point guard Kiara Jackson.

The senior and three-time defending Mountain West champion shot just 2-of-18 through the first three quarters, bricking outside jumpers and layups alike. But once the game entered crunch time Jackson came alive, making three straight shots to put UNLV ahead, 66-63, with 4:39 to play.

UNLV saved its best stretch for the final minutes. Leading, 69-68, with 3:10 left, the Scarlet and Gray went on a 9-0 run to clinch it. Kimpson scored on a press-break layup and a pair of free throws to punctuate the win.

Kimpson finished with a career-high 29 points on efficient 12-of-18 shooting.

“Good for me,” Kimpson laughed when informed of her new personal best during her post-game interview.

Jackson overcame her early misfires to tally a hard-earned 13 points (5-of-22 from the field).

La Rocque said she never considered taking the ball out of Jackson’s hands despite her offensive struggles.

“I trust Kiara with our program,” La Rocque said. “This is her program. She could go 0-fer and she’s going to be out there. She’s going to be out there.

“Honestly, I gave her a little bit of space because I know she’s going to make the play,” she continued. “I just know. I trust her.”

UNLV shot 39.4% on the day while Boise State was much more efficient at 49.1%. The Scarlet and Gray made up for the discrepancy by applying defensive pressure and forcing 17 turnovers, which led to 14 points.

UNLV is now 25-6 on the season.

Kimpson, a sophomore, has only been on board for one championship run, but she understands her team has championship DNA.

It’s going to take a lot more than a slow start to rattle this Scarlet and Gray squad.

“We really have had games like that where it is high scoring in beginning, so we just have to keep our calm and be poised,” Kimpson said. “We know we’re going to get it back.”

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