UNLV’s 2026-27 roster has two immediate jobs to fill: a guard who can organize the offense and a frontcourt partner for Meadow Roland. Lindy La Rocque has returning scorers and a large newcomer class, but no settled hierarchy after losing much of her veteran core.
Aaliyah Alexander, Teagan Colvin and Mariah Elohim combined for 205 assists last season and are no longer on the roster. Someone has to get the Lady Rebels into their offense and deliver the ball to Roland and returning guard Jasmyn Lott without asking either scorer to create every possession.
The departures also include Shelbee Brown’s rebounding and Destiny Leo’s shooting. Replacing those skills will require choices about who shares the floor, not simply dividing the departing players’ minutes among the newcomers.
Roland and Lott give UNLV two returning scorers. Bergan Kinnebrew arrives with major Division II scoring production, Maia Rosarion brings Mountain West experience from Reno and Norah Moo adds college frontcourt minutes from Grand Canyon.
ESPN Top 100 freshmen Jayla Constant and Keonni Lewis enter the guard competition. Ava Bergeson, Terri’A Russell, Arianna Davis and Tristan Williams round out a freshman class whose minutes are still to be determined.
Roland is the starting point because she is the closest thing UNLV has to a proven centerpiece. She averaged 15.0 points and 9.5 rebounds last season, started 31 games and gave the Lady Rebels their most complete returning frontcourt production.
Roland blocked a team-high 56 shots and finished second on the team in rebounding behind Brown. Her 30-point game against Wyoming showed how much scoring UNLV could ask of her; the challenge is preserving that production while rebuilding the lineup around her.
Roland shot 44.1% from the field and 25.8% from 3. That perimeter percentage leaves UNLV with a practical lineup question: how much room will she have inside if her frontcourt partner also plays near the basket?
A partner who draws a defender outside would leave Roland fewer bodies to work through on a post catch. If both forwards stay near the rim, the guards will have to create room through their shooting and the timing of entries and cuts.
Brown averaged 9.8 rebounds, so replacing her work cannot fall to Roland alone. The other forwards will have to help finish defensive possessions if Roland steps toward a drive or contests a shot.
Lott averaged 12.5 points in 26 games and made 32 3-pointers at 38.1%. With Elohim, Alexander and Leo taking a combined 135 made 3s out of the roster, Lott supplies one of the few established college shooting records left.
Lott could spend more possessions catching to score if another guard can consistently bring the ball into the offense. That would also give La Rocque a perimeter target when an opponent sends help toward Roland.
Lott also shot 83.3% from the free-throw line. La Rocque still has to decide how much of the late-clock offense Lott should handle.
Constant, Lewis, returning guard Sydni Summers, Rosarion and Kinnebrew give La Rocque candidates to share the ballhandling work. Their roles have not been settled.
Kinnebrew arrives from UMary after averaging 22.4 points and finishing as Division II’s second-leading scorer.
She shot 45.4% from the field, led Division II in free throws made and attempted, earned All-American recognition and finished her UMary career with 1,280 points.
At 5-foot-11, Kinnebrew adds size to the scoring-guard group. Getting to the line was a major source of her offense at UMary; the next test is sustaining that production against Division I defenders.
Her fit beside Lott depends on what happens when a defender stops her first drive. If help comes from Lott’s side, finding Lott outside would give UNLV another scoring chance rather than asking Kinnebrew to finish through the extra defender.
La Rocque will have to learn how much initiation Kinnebrew can handle while making that jump. Giving her a scoring role beside a lead guard would be a different assignment from asking her to run the offense herself.
Constant is one candidate for that lead-guard work. The 5-foot-10 Oklahoma City guard was ranked No. 88 nationally by ESPN.
She averaged 12 points and 2.5 assists as a junior at Grind Prep after averaging 14.3 points and 4.5 assists as a sophomore while helping Putnam West win a state title.
Lewis is the other freshman guard with a major profile, and she gives the roster something different. The Las Vegas native from Democracy Prep was ranked No. 85 nationally by ESPN and brings local significance, speed and defensive activity. She averaged 20.1 points during Democracy Prep’s 2023 2A South Championship season, then averaged 12.9 points as a junior while leading the team with 4.7 steals per game.
Lewis can force turnovers. To earn college minutes, she will also have to stay in front of the ball and work through screens.
At 5-foot-6, Lewis will be adapting to larger guards. She could earn minutes without immediately directing the entire offense if she can defend her matchup and advance the ball reliably.
Summers made 23 of 71 3-point attempts last season, giving La Rocque another returning shooter to consider. Rosarion adds a bigger guard with experience at Reno and Morehead State.
Williams averaged 23 points, 8.4 rebounds and three steals as a junior in Ohio. Like Constant and Lewis, she enters as a freshman candidate rather than an established college contributor.
Moo brings the most Division I experience among the incoming frontcourt players. The 6-foot-2 transfer played 31 games with four starts as a Grand Canyon freshman, averaging 3.7 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 52.7%.
Moo could compete to play beside Roland when UNLV wants size or cover minutes while Roland rests. Playing them together would put more responsibility on the guards to make defenders leave the lane.
Bergeson offers a different developmental possibility. The 6-foot Oregon forward averaged 14.9 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists as a junior and had surpassed 1,000 career points and 500 rebounds.
If Bergeson develops a dependable college perimeter shot, she could draw a defender away from Roland.
Her assist production also gives UNLV a passing candidate in the frontcourt. The college test will be finding a teammate when a defender takes away her own shot, especially if she shares the floor with Roland or Moo.
Russell and Davis give the class more length and athleticism on the wing/frontcourt line. Russell is listed at 6-foot-2 and comes from Oakland Technical, where she helped the program win three straight Oakland Athletic League championships and a CIF Division I state title.
Davis, a 6-foot-1 forward from Lancaster High School in Dallas, joins that competition. Both she and Russell give La Rocque young forwards to develop around Roland and Moo.
Trystan James returns after averaging 2.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in 26 games. She collected 25 offensive rebounds in limited minutes, a more specific contribution than her scoring average suggests.
La Rocque has experienced scorers in Roland and Lott. Finding a dependable lead guard and a frontcourt combination that can rebound without crowding Roland will determine how she can use the newcomers around them.
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