UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier celebrates their 71-65 upset win over Boise State guard during their Mountain West Conference quarterfinal basketball game at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas Tuesday, March 8, 2016. (Josh Holmberg/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
She knew it was going to be difficult, that although the previous head coach had been fired after delivering eight winning seasons in 10 years, the final one had seen a disastrous 8-22 record.
She knew of the challenges, of convincing enough Division I talent that UNLV basketball didn’t begin and end with the men’s program.
Or at least didn’t have to.