UNLV Lady Rebels head coach Lindy La Rocque reacts to a play against the Michigan Wolverines during the second half at Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Lindy La Rocque, UNLV Lady Rebels Face New Rivals Amid Mountain West Realignment

Originally posted on UNLV Rebels on SI
By Mark Morales-Smith | Last updated Jul 10, 2025 2:17 PM ET

The Mountain West Conference will look a lot different in 2026. There will be a significant realignment across all of their athletic leagues. This will inevitably have a massive impact on the UNLV Rebels sports programs. One of their most dominant programs has been the UNLV Lady Rebels women's basketball team, led by head coach Lindy La Rocque.

She has developed the program into the class of the Mountain West. They have won four consecutive Mountain West Conference regular season championships, and had won three consecutive Mountain West Conference Tournaments prior to falling short last season. Those tournament wins all earned them an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, where they represented the conference as well. When things are going as great as they have been for the Lady Rebs, change isn't always necessarily welcomed. However, it sounds like La Rocque understands that the change will come with both advantages and disadvantages.

“I think, especially with this upcoming season, it’s going to be a dogfight with the impending split on the horizon,” La Rocque said. “People are going to be really aggressive... I think it’s going to feel a little bit different for each sport with the five leaving. For women’s basketball, we’re losing some historically good programs. We’ll miss that a little... But some of what we’re adding — Grand Canyon is an NCAA Tournament team, UTEP is really well coached — I don’t think we’re going to take a step backwards. I don’t envision that. If anything, we could take a step forward.”

UNLV Lady Rebels Newest Rival:

The one team that La Rocque targeted as their potential top rival moving forward is the New Mexico Lobos.

“They (New Mexico) have a ton of money and resources,” La Rocque said. “They should have the biggest (name, image and likeness) budget in the league... It’s always harder to stay at the top. We feel it. We have to work for it. It’s a privilege. It takes a lot of discipline and work to remain where we’re at. It takes a lot of work to continue raising the bar.”