Coach Lindy La Rocque has a problem.
The new championship banner, which UNLV plans to hang in the southeast rafters of Cox Pavilion after Thursday’s game, is already out of date.
Luckily for La Rocque and the Lady Rebels, all they have to do is add another year.
“It’s really cool to be a part of this team, making history,” sophomore Alyssa Durazo-Frescas said. “People are seeing that, getting the banner hanging up. That’s really special to us. We know we have a job to do. We want to do more of that. We want to create more history, put up more banners.”
La Rocque and UNLV (25-2, 15-0 Mountain West) will finally unveil banners honoring the Lady Rebels’ 2021-22 regular-season and Mountain West tournament championships, along with its NCAA Tournament appearance, after its game against Utah State (4-22, 1-14) at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
After the two teams shake hands following the game, the banner will be displayed on a portable rack in the middle of the court. The Lady Rebels will update it with a 2023 decal to recognize their recently claimed repeat Mountain West regular-season championship, then invite fans down onto the court to take pictures with the players and the new banner.
“I think having the visual representation of what this program has done historically is important,” La Rocque said.
She said the program values sharing experiences with its fans. Durazo-Frescas and fellow sophomore Kiara Jackson said they’ve enjoyed the postgame meet-and-greets, which have allowed players to connect with UNLV fans. Jackson said she has signed more autographs this year than she ever imagined was possible.
So for La Rocque, it only made sense to share this ceremony with the UNLV faithful as well.
“When (the banners) are up in the rafters, they seem so far away,” La Rocque said. “We want to share everything with the community and the people that support us.”
The banner, which will list all of UNLV’s regular-season and conference titles, is one of eight new banners the Lady Rebels will eventually raise.
UNLV will add three banners recognizing its conference tournament successes: the 1984 Pacific Coast Athletic Association tournament; the 1986 and 1990 Big West tournaments; and the 2022 Mountain West tournament. Another banner will recognize the program’s nine NCAA Tournament appearances, and the final three are redesigns of the banners for Linda Frohlich, Pauline Jordan and Misty Thomas — the three players whose numbers are retired by the program.
La Rocque said the team made the decision to add more banners after digging into the archives during the offseason. She wants alumni who return to feel proud of their contributions to the program’s foundation, and she said she hopes current players will understand the standards set for them by past teams.
“It’s important to display history and tradition,” La Rocque said.
Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at [email protected]. Follow @ANYamashita on Twitter.
