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Close-knit Lady Rebels ready to begin season

The Lady Rebels sat in a circle on the floor of the practice gym chatting among themselves at media day last week.

As interviews were being conducted around the gym and the Lady Rebels grew louder in their spirited chatter, coach Kathy Olivier told her team to take it down a decibel level.

“We always talked about a sisterhood. It’s at a high. You can tell by how they’re even sitting,” Olivier said, nodding at the group sitting on the gym floor in front of her. “They’re a closer group than we’ve had in a long time, and hopefully that will equate to good things on the floor.”

The Lady Rebels will have their first chance to see if that chemistry translates Friday in their season opener when they host Portland State at Cox Pavilion at 6 p.m.

It’ll be the first game in what looks to be a blistering nonconference schedule that they hope prepares them for Mountain West play.

The Lady Rebels will play two of last year’s Final Four teams — Stanford and Mississippi State — in back-to-back games in December and also will take on NCAA Tournament teams Gonzaga and Syracuse.

“Last season we had a pretty tough nonconference schedule, but we were very, very excited when our coaches announced how tough this one was going to be,” senior Brooke Johnson said. “All of those teams we’re very, very excited to play. I think some teams may get afraid or worried about ‘Oh crap, we’re going to lose,’ but I think we (have) a positive mindset (and are) working harder and hoping we can get some wins out of those.”

UNLV will have to do so without the Gonzalez twins, two of their starters from last year’s team which won 22 games.

Dakota Gonzalez was the team’s top scorer, averaging 13.2 points. Dylan averaged 9.9. With the twins, UNLV likely would have been a preseason favorite in the Mountain West. But they departed with a year of eligibility left to pursue other interests, and the Lady Rebels will need others to step up.

“They did so many things for us that it’s going to be hard to fill, and we’re fooling ourselves if we don’t say that,” Olivier said.

Getting a healthy redshirt junior guard Nikki Wheatley back is one big step in the puzzle.

Wheatley tore her meniscus during a game last December. Now healthy, she and Johnson will be expected to be the top two scorers for a team projected to finish fifth in the Mountain West.

The Lady Rebels are picked to finish behind Boise State, Wyoming, Colorado State and New Mexico by coaches and media. It’s a prediction that didn’t sit well.

“I would say I did not like our preseason ranking, but if that’s what they feel, that’s what they feel. We just have to prove them wrong,” junior Paris Strawther said.

Strawther and junior Katie Powell, two returning starters, will play a pivotal offensive roles. Olivier said the team wants to take high-percentage shots and get the ball inside more to those two.

“Once we do that, we work the ball inside out, I think we’re going to be a better basketball team,” Olivier said. “That will open up Brooke for her threes. That will open up Nikki for her penetration, that will open up different players to get cleaner looks.”

The Lady Rebels have one starting spot open, and it’s one Olivier can toy with depending on whether she wants to go with a smaller, quicker group or a bigger, more experienced lineup.

It’s something she can adjust as the season gets underway.

For now, the close-knit Lady Rebels are just excited to begin.

“I feel like we’re a lot more comfortable with each other than we were in previous seasons,” Powell said. “I’ve been here for three years now, and I feel like this year we’re all really, really close and we treat one another like sisters almost.

”I trust almost everybody on this team, and that’s going to be good because you need that trust on the team.”

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March 5: vs. MW First Round; Thomas & Mack Center; Tba

More Rebels: Follow all of our UNLV coverage online at reviewjournal.com/Rebels and @RJRebels on Twitter.

Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BetsyHelfand on Twitter.

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