MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 8, 2026

Lindy La Rocque

Shelbee Brown

Meadow Roland

Thomas & Mack Center

UNLV Lady Rebels

Postgame Press Conference

UNLV 79, Fresno State 65

THE MODERATOR: Coach, we'll start with you and get your thoughts on tonight's game?

LINDY LA ROCQUE: Really proud of our team. We are bound and determined. I like the determination of our group you know, credit Fresno State. We just played them last week I think, and they play really hard. Defensively they just try to mess you up. I really respect Ryan and what he's doing with the program. It's always just a tough first year, but I know they're going to continue to get better.

Just really proud of our group. The way we started the game, that was an emphasis for us, and excited to be playing tomorrow.

THE MODERATOR: Let's start with questions for the student-athletes.

Q. For either play, Lindy talked about it right now, hot start. It was an emphasis for you guys. What was the conversations in the huddle?

MEADOW ROLAND: Just to come out strong, come out throw the first punch, be aggressive from the start, and not have a slow start. When we have a slow start, we always have to fight our way back, and that was not our goal.

We wanted to come out, throw the first punch, and just set the tone from the beginning.

Q. Shelbee, you guys have had bad shooting nights this year. You've had good shooting nights this year. How does it feel to -- and I guess how much of a boost is it to have your best shooting night in the biggest game of the year so far?

SHELBEE BROWN: It feels amazing. We'll take whatever we can get, and it's one step up the ladder.

Q. I wanted to ask about that second quarter. Obviously you guys got into a really dominant hot start and then the second quarter maybe a little bit more turnovers and it was a little bit of a closer differential. What did you see from them? Was it defensive? What changed in the second quarter for you guys?

SHELBEE BROWN: I feel like Fresno kept their defensive anticipation. We just wanted to keep the ball inside the paint stronger, be the stronger team.

MEADOW ROLAND: Then us on defense, I feel like we just had a lot of miscommunications. Sometimes they probably capitalized on that, but then we had to come together, fix what we had to fix, and just communicate more and play our roles.

Q. For either of you, everyone on the team really got in on the scoring here tonight. For you two, the majority of the season y'all have been the one-two punch down low especially. How nice was it to know that your teammates were also chipping in as well, it wasn't just on the two of you, but it was an all-around effort from your entire squad?

MEADOW ROLAND: Yeah, it feels great to just have your whole team have your back. I got in some early foul trouble, and just for my teammates to get in the game and still score without me out there, it feels good to not have to just be the only one.

Q. Kind of piggybacking off of that, Shelbee, Meadow picks up two fouls in the first quarter. How did you not let that, A, change how you guys were defending, but also, not change how you react to do it?

SHELBEE BROWN: We just want to do stay composed. Composure was the big thing because they had a lot of ball pressure, so staying composed and keep the ball inside the paint.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. We'll dismiss you at this time. Questions for Coach.

Q. Lindy, you talked about it, but it's hard to beat a team three times in a season. Did you change the approach, or is that something that you try to avoid doing when you see a team for the third time?

LINDY LA ROCQUE: Between our first and second time we played them there's two months, so that was probably when we made some of the most adjustments. I think both our teams improved.

Then when you play them within a ten-day stretch, you know, it's more minor tweaks and just trying to clean up maybe what you didn't do well, but not drastically changing your plan. I mean, that was it for us. I thought we did a good job.

Q. I think one thing that's not going to get talked about in that first quarter was in Teagan's first two minutes on the floor, three assists. She gets a steal; she draws two fouls. It hasn't been the easiest season for her, but how big is that for her confidence moving forward that she can play on this level and on a stage like this?

LINDY LA ROCQUE: I thought Teagan was huge, like you said, especially in the first half. We needed her when she was out, but you know, you got to take care of the medical side of things.

Boy, we are just glad to have her back. I think she had some -- she's just a point guard, you know, and I thought, like you said, she made a couple of really good plays. I mean, she had four assists leading the team, I think. I'm confident with the ball in her hands and making the right plays, getting people in spots.

So, yeah, I'm just really glad to have her back.

Q. Destiny only missed one three-pointer tonight. I'm wondering what you feel like is the ceiling for her, and how important she'll be so the success of this team in the tournament?

LINDY LA ROCQUE: I can't even remember which one she missed, but you know, this is -- Destiny Leo has played in a lot of games in her career. When you get a senior kind of finally towards the end, she knows she's only got a handful left. She's made a lot of big shots in her career, and I've kind of hoped and prayed and thought all along, like, she can shine the brightest when the lights are the brightest, and I thought today was a good start for her, because we need her moving forward.

Q. Then also, just want to ask your approach to I guess keeping blinders on. In a tournament setting it's probably hard to ignore this team lost in this round. Obviously the big story is San Diego State losing in a major upset. How do you approach that? Do you pay attention to it at all? How do you keep your team focused, or what is that like?

LINDY LA ROCQUE: Yeah, absolutely, we watched all the games. You're human, you know. So, if anything, we just try to learn from other people's lessons, honestly. We watched the first two games. Both really close, tight, competitive games. If anything, I thought maybe that was to our advantage coming into our game of, like, well, we've got to be locked in, ready to go, physical from the jump, and do what we know we want to do, because anything can happen in March. We've literally seen that today.

Q. As I mentioned when talking with Shelbee and Meadow earlier, everyone got in on the scoring tonight. It was so awesome to see. Obviously Destiny, yes, had an incredible performance, but there was no one, true dominant performance. It was all-around. For you, was kind of going through your entire roster and all the rotations part of the game plan today, or were you kind of reading the situation, assessing as you were going with the hopes of resting starters where you can?

LINDY LA ROCQUE: The first question, no, absolutely. I mean, I was not planning for foul trouble. That just kind of how it happens, but I credit our team and our great young women for being ready to go.

I remember looking at the halftime stat sheet, and I don't think anyone was in double figures. I was, like, wow. Then I kind of really looked down, and I'm, like, well, everyone has really chipped in. There was a few with 8 and 9.

So I think that's a strength of ours, and you know, when we need it, we've got it. I'm happy that they were able to come through. I thought Sydni Summers made some huge shots in the fist half. Huge. Again, with Teagan's play, Aaliyah gets in foul trouble, I mean, they both had two fouls midway through the first quarter, and I'm, like, great, thanks, you know?

But just credit our team. We've kind of preached staying ready so you don't have to get ready. Teagan was ready. Sydni was ready. TJ was ready. She made a huge shot. Really proud of them.

Definitely now hindsight knowing that we play tomorrow, sure, I'm looking at the minutes, and I'm, like, oh, that's good. No one is, like, totally crushed, hopefully. But we got to rest still, too.

Q. Lindy, having watched this team all season I feel like this was by design, but you guys weren't in a full-court press or full-court defense as much. What were the benefits that you were looking to gain from that, considering you guys are trying to play three games in three nights?

LINDY LA ROCQUE: It's more of our game plan than trying to be conservative or anything. Emilia Long is freaking fast, and if you think you're going to pick her up 94 feet, you're crazy. So we're just trying to sprint back and get in front of her.

Their whole team, that's their style so I'm not trying to pick them up full-court. That's part of our game plan. We tried our best and still she got loose and they got loose a couple of times.

We weren't trying to pressure them, because I think that's what -- honestly, that's what at the face in practice every day, so they're really good against it.

But they have some really talented players, and we were just trying to make it difficult for them.