With two minutes left in UNLV’s loss to Creighton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, Lindy La Rocque made the decision to sub out Desi-Rae Young.
The game had been decided by that point, as Creighton buried the Scarlet and Gray under an avalanche of 3-point baskets en route to an 87-73 decision. Though Young had poured in 30 points on the day, La Rocque knew her star senior had come to the end of the road.
As Young left the court, La Rocque gave her a hug. And then it was over.
Young has been the face of this golden era for the UNLV women’s basketball program, winning a pair of Mountain West Player of the Year awards while leading the team to three straight NCAA Tournaments. The team has gone from afterthought to juggernaut during Young and La Rocque’s time together, and the late substitution gave the traveling block of fans at Pauley Pavilion an opportunity to thank Young for elevating UNLV.
For La Rocque, who was hired as head coach in 2020 has had Young for her entire four years at UNLV, it was a painful exit.
“She came to play today,” La Rocque said. “I don’t know if I could ask more of her. Thirty points, nine rebounds, she was pretty efficient. I wanted to give her that moment. Obviously, I embraced her and it was emotional.”
UNLV fell behind by double digits early in the second quarter as Creighton made seven of its first 11 3-point shots. The Bluejays pushed their lead to 44-32 at halftime, and UNLV couldn’t make a significant dent in the deficit over the final 20 minutes, despite Young making 15-of-19 shots from the field (78.9%).
It was a tough way for Young to go out. UNLV’s two previous NCAA appearances ended in first-round defeats, but the Scarlet and Gray entered this year’s tourney on a 15-game winning streak and ranked No. 20 in the nation. Everything seemed to be building toward a breakthrough NCAA victory for the team and a crowning achievement for Young.
When that didn’t happen, it hit hard.
“It felt different this year,” La Rocque said. “This group felt different. So it hurts. I really wanted it for them. They wanted it really bad.”
Creighton was led by the sparkling shooting of guard Lauren Jensen, as she scored 25 points on 8-of-12 from the field and 5-of-7 from 3-point range. Creighton made 15-of-34 from long distance, easily outpacing UNLV’s 5-of-20 showing from beyond the arc.
Young leaves UNLV without her March moment, but she said she takes pride in lifting the program and leaving her teammates in position for more tournament runs in the future.
“Obviously this is going to be my last game, but I’m extremely happy and extremely proud of everything that we’ve done,” Young said. “And being able to let the younger group come in and play out here and let them experience this, because they will be back here next year.”
Junior point guard Kiara Jackson was UNLV’s only other scorer in double figures, as she went for 16 points and a team-high six assists.
Jackson has played her entire college career with Young, leaning on her leadership and her dominant post scoring.
“She had an amazing impact,” Jackson said. “We wouldn’t be here without her, and I’m going to miss her.”
Where does UNLV go from here? What does the team look like without Young’s automatic double-double production every game? The Scarlet and Gray figure to head into next season as Mountain West favorites again, but it won’t be the same.
La Rocque didn’t sound ready to confront the thought of a future without Young just yet.
“I love coaching that kid,” La Rocque said. “We came in as freshmen together; I’d like to think that we’ve kind of grown up alongside each other, too. It’s just gone so fast.”
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
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