UNLV walked off the floor Thursday night with a familiar mix of frustration and validation, the unmistakable feeling of knowing you were good enough to beat a team the nation never expected you to, and the sting of watching that opportunity slip away possession by possession.

For two quarters, the Lady Rebels went toe-to-toe with No. 7 Baylor. In the third, they owned the game. They dictated tempo, controlled the glass, blitzed the Bears in transition, and built an eight-point lead that had Cox Pavilion surging. UNLV looked tougher. Sharper. More connected. Baylor felt it. Everyone in the building felt it. The game was leaning UNLV’s way.

And then everything flipped.

The final nine minutes became the dividing line between a landmark win and a painful lesson. UNLV scored just five points in the fourth quarter, went 2-for-19 from the field, and watched Baylor close on a 19–5 run that erased everything built through 30 minutes of disciplined, physical basketball.

This wasn’t a blowout. It wasn’t a talent gap. It was a winnable game, one that UNLV controlled, and one that Baylor had the poise to survive.

The shape of the game changed dramatically late in the third quarter. Baylor led 35-27 and appeared ready to stretch the game out. Instead, UNLV imposed one of its most forceful runs in recent memory, a 17-2 burst built on pressure, pace, and shot-making.

It unfolded possession by possession:

For nearly five minutes, Baylor had no solutions. Their offense flattened, their spacing broke, and UNLV dictated exactly the style of game they wanted. The Lady Rebels didn’t just take the lead; they seized control.

When the fourth quarter opened at 49-43, it felt like UNLV had broken the game open.

But that’s where the separation should’ve happened… and didn’t.

What followed was the sharpest contrast in the game: UNLV’s best basketball immediately followed by their least efficient stretch of the season.

The fourth quarter numbers are staggering:

Baylor didn’t overwhelm UNLV with new schemes. They simplified. They switched more aggressively, loaded the nail, and dared UNLV to finish over length. Once the ball stuck, once drives funneled into bodies, once Lott was denied touches, everything tightened.

The difference was clean:

UNLV’s looks early in the game were the result of movement.
UNLV’s late looks were the result of isolation.

Against a top-10 defense with 6-3 athletes at the rim, those are not the same shots.

The last minute encapsulated the entire collapse:
Alexander’s midrange to tie was long, Roland’s put-back rolled off, then Alexander’s final jumper with 1.4 seconds left was erased by Baylor’s 11th block of the night.

Baylor didn’t steal the game.
UNLV left the door open long enough for them to walk through it.

23 points | 8-18 FG | 3 threes | 5 assists

Scott played like a preseason All-American in the fourth. When UNLV took away her clean looks earlier in the game, she didn’t force. When the game demanded control, she delivered:

She was the best closer on the floor.

12 rebounds | game-sealing block

Baylor won the fourth largely because they ended every UNLV possession clean. Littlepage-Buggs dominated the defensive glass and delivered the moment of the night, the block on Alexander to end UNLV’s final chance.

8 points | 4-5 FG

The unexpected spark. Her energy changed Baylor’s second unit. Every run Baylor made in the second half included her minutes.

18 points | 7-12 FG

When UNLV needed a bucket, Lott was the player who created one. She fueled the third-quarter run and was the most composed guard on the floor for three quarters. Baylor’s decision to face-guard her late forced the ball out of her hands, and UNLV never rebalanced the offense.

13 pts | 11 reb | 4 ast | 3 stl

Roland battled Baylor’s size for 40 straight minutes and won most of those battles. She was the anchor that allowed UNLV to match Baylor on the glass and in the paint. Her rebounding kept UNLV afloat even as the offense slowed.

7 pts | 3-16 FG

Baylor’s length dictated every read she made. The driving lanes that exist against Mountain West opponents weren’t there. She competed, she defended, she stayed aggressive, but this matchup exposed exactly how punishing Baylor’s rim protection can be.

UNLV’s depth competed physically, but Baylor’s bench outscored them 16-8, a meaningful margin in a low-scoring game.

UNLV actually won or split most of the high-value categories:

Where Baylor separated:

UNLV won volume. Baylor won efficiency, and in games like this, efficiency wins.

This wasn’t a moral victory, but it was a measuring stick. And the measurement came back clear:

UNLV has the physical tools, defensive stability, and frontcourt talent to play with and beat ranked teams.

They’ve faced Baylor, Oklahoma, Louisville, and Arizona in recent years, and this was the first time they genuinely controlled the game for long stretches. UNLV’s last win over a top-10 opponent was on December 7, 1990, against No. 7 Louisiana Tech, and that 35-year drought nearly ended tonight.

What’s missing is also clear:

These are solvable problems, and this roster is good enough to solve them. The next time UNLV is on this stage, they won’t just threaten a top-10 team. They’ll beat one.