LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Desi-Rae Young turned in a dominant performance, scoring 28 points and pulling in 17 rebounds, as No. 21 UNLV won its 22nd straight game and clinched its second consecutive berth in the NCAA Tournament with a 71-60 triumph over Wyoming on Wednesday night in the final of the women’s Mountain West Conference tournament.
Essence Booker added 19 points for the Rebels (31-2), who are headed to the NCAA Tourney for the 10th time. Alyssa Frescas-Durazo added 12 points.
“I think we did a great job last year,” Young said of her team’s repeat and its chances in the upcoming big dance. “I think this year we’re going to come out 10 times stronger … we’re coming in with an aggression we didn’t have last year, and we want it this year.”
Added Booker of the MW repeat and another trip to the NCAAs: “We wanted the same thing this year. I’m just happy to be part of it.”
Young, the tournament Most Valuable Player, or Booker seemed to have an answer every time Wyoming challenged, especially when it hit five-straight 3-pointers to cut a 13-point deficit in the middle of the third quarter to 50-49 late in the period. Booker hit a jumper and the Rebels took a 52-49 lead into the fourth quarter.
The lead got back up to 10, but a Tess Barnes 3 made it 61-55. Young then scored twice. Barnes made Wyoming’s 11th and last 3-pointer at the 2:29 mark to make it a seven-point game, but Booker scored the final six points for UNLV.
Coach Lindy La Rocque said she remained confident in her team, which went unbeaten in the MW regular season with 18 victories.
“These girls know how to win,” La Rocque, in her third season, said. “They knew it was winning time. They know how to get defensive stops, get every rebound and execute on the offensive end. There was no doubt in my mind.
“Just so incredibly proud of this team. They had that look in their eye this morning, and I knew we were going to come away with this one.”
Barnes scored 13 points for Wyoming (22-10), which was seeking its third NCAA berth. Emily Mellema and Grace Ellis each had 10 points. Leading scorer Allyson Fertig was held to half her average, scoring seven as she battled foul trouble.
Wyoming scored the first basket but never led after that, trailing 31-28 at the half.
Both coaches — Heather Ezell in her first year leading Wyoming after years as an assistant, and La Rocque — gave birth earlier in the season. They also played against each other in college, when La Rocque’s Stanford team beating Ezell’s and Iowa State 74-53 in the 2009 Elite Eight.
“Congratulations to UNLV,” Ezell said. “That’s a really good team that’s going to represent the Mountain West really well in the NCAA Tournament.”
