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FOR THE RING: New Mexico completes the regular season Saturday afternoon when it visits the 20th-ranked Colorado State Rams. Tipoff is 2 p.m. from Moby Arena in Fort Collins. The game will be broadcast live on 610 AM The Sports Animal and over the internet at www.610thesportsanimal.com. Following its 70-61 victory Thursday at Wyoming, UNM is 21-6 overall and 10-3 in Mountain West Conference play, one game behind the Rams, who are 11-2. A win Saturday would give UNM a share of the Mountain West Conference title and the No. 1 seed in next weeks MWC Tournament in Las Vegas. The Lobos would receive the top seed because they would have beaten CSU twice this year.
If New Mexico loses, they will be the No. 2 seed only if UNLV loses to Utah. If UNM loses and UNLV wins, both teams would be 10-4 and New Mexico would be the No. 3 seed since it was swept by the Lady Rebels during the regular season.
New Mexico and BYU could tie for second as well, but the Lobos would win that tiebreaker since it won both games over the Cougars. If UNM, UNLV and BYU all tie for second at 10-4, UNLV would be the No. 2 seed, New Mexico No. 3 and BYU No. 4.
UNLV hosts Utah Saturday while BYU is at San Diego State.
Picked to finish fifth in the MWC in the preseason, New Mexicos only regular-season conference title came in 1998-99 when it finished 12-2, tying Utah for the Western Athletic Conference Pacific Division crown.
Colorado State is 22-5 in all games after whacking Air Force 84-40 Wednesday in Fort Collins. The Rams, who are No. 16 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll, host Air Force on Wednesday.
Probable Starters30Chelsea Grear, F, 5-10, Jr-2L, 9.7, 6.742Lindsey Arndt, F, 6-1, Fr-HS, 7.4, 5.640Jordan Adams, C, 6-3, Jr-2L, 14.7, 6.212Molly McKinnon, G, 5-8, Sr-3L, 7.9, 2.721Mandi Moore, G, 5-7, Fr-HS, 9.9, 4.6
20 WINS AGAIN: New Mexico has logged its second straight 20-win season and fourth overall under head coach Don Flanagan. The four 20-win campaigns have come in the past five years as UNM is now 110-44 since the 1997-98 season. UNM had never won 20 games in a season prior to Flanagans arrival seven years ago. The Lobos were 26-7 in 1997-98, 24-7 in 1998-99 and 22-13 last year.
ANOTHER ATTENDANCE RECORD?: Provided the Lobos do not play another home game that could drop their attendance average, they will set a school record of 9,229 fans a game. The single-season record is 8,918 was 1999-2000. UNM had five crowds in excess of 10,000 in 2001-02. UNM VS. COLORADO STATE: The Rams have a 24-18 lead in the series that began in 1974-75, although the Lobos have won four of the past seven contests. UNM prevailed 56-50 in The Pit on Jan. 31. UNM overcame a 28-12 first-half hole to knock off the 18th-ranked Rams.
CSU has a 13-4 edge in Fort Collins where it has won nine straight. New Mexicos last win at Moby Arena was March 6, 1986, by a 53-42 count. UNM has a 13-10 lead in Albuquerque, winning the past three meetings. The two rivals have each won one game apiece in Las Vegas in conference tournament play.
Colorado State Probable StartersF 00 Ashley Augspurger, 6-1, Jr-2L, 13.0, 5.6F 22 Katie Borton, 6-0, Jr-2L, 5.4, 2.8C 50 Shannon Strecker, 6-2, Jr-2L, 8.8, 5.8G 11 Jasai Ferrucho, 5-7, Soph-1L, 5.1, 2.4 G 14 Angie Gorton, 6-0, Sr-3L, 13.6, 5.9
Head Coach: Tom Collen (Bowling Green 77; 127-31, year at CSU, 5-4 vs. New Mexico, 1-3 in The Pit, 3-0 in Fort Collins, 1-1 in Las Vegas)
Jan. 31 at Albuquerque: The Lobos held No. 18 Colorado State to its lowest point total of the season, in a 56-50 upset of the Mountain West Conference leading Rams. Freshman Lindsey Arndt scored a career-high 15 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in helping the Lobos overcome a 16-point first-half deficit. The win brought the Lobos within one-half game of first place in the MWC. Despite posting their lowest first-half point total (22) of the season, and shooting a season-low 27.7% (18-65) from the field, the Lobos were able to prevail. UNM outrebounded CSU 43-33, and held a huge 20-5 edge on the offensive glass. The Lobos also forced 25 turnovers, the most by CSU this year.Colorado State owned the first half, as it was able to nail five 3-pointers and run out to a 28-12 lead with just over six minutes to play before the break. For the last five minutes of the half, however, UNM slowed CSUs offense and chipped away. Four straight points cut the intermission lead to 33-22. The Lobos scored the first seven points of the second half, then used a 16-2 run to take the lead for good at 45-41 on an Arndt jumper. Melissa Forest had seven points during the decisive spurt. Chelsea Grear was the only Lobo to score in double figures, as she finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.
HEAD COACH DON FLANAGAN: Don Flanagan is 143-69 into his seventh season at UNM, 96-35 at home and 47-34 away from The Pit. Flanagan is 4-8 against Colorado State, 3-3 in The Pit, 0-4 in Fort Collins and 1-1 in Las Vegas. Flanagan is 62-36 in conference games, 41-9 in The Pit and 21-27 on the road. Flanagan took over a struggling program in 1995 and the Lobos have improved remarkably under his guidance. Theyve captured a regular-season conference championship, a conference tournament title and made four consecutive postseason appearances, including the schools first-ever NCAA bid in 1998. Flanagan become the schools all-time leader in victories in less than five seasons, surpassing Doug Hoseltons previous mark of 89 wins from 1980-87. Amazingly, Flanagan took just 133 games to reach 90 wins for his career, while Hoselton won 89 games in 194 tries. Of course winning is nothing new for Flanagan. In fact he is winning less now than in his previous job as head coach at Albuquerques Eldorado High School, where he compiled an astounding 401-13 record with 11 state championships in 16 years.Under Flanagan, UNM has become a consistent threat to win the conference title as the Lobos have finished no worse than third in each of the past four seasons. Flanagans teams have become noted for their stifling defense. New Mexico has finished among the conference leaders in scoring defense in each of the last six years and has consistently ranked in the top-20 in the nation in that category as well. Fan support has been tremendous as a result of Flanagans defense and intense style of play. Last season the Lobos were fifth in the nation in attendance, averaging 8,712 fans a game. The Lobos had 16,845 fans witness their loss to Utah on Jan. 7, 2001, which at the time was the largest crowd in the nation. UNM also had a sellout throng of 18,018 at the WNIT Championship game, the third-largest on-campus attendance in the nation during the 2001-02 season. In 1999-2000, UNM was sixth in the nation with an average attendance of 8,918. In 1994-95, the year before Flanagans arrival, Los Lobos averaged just 397 fans per game.
LAST GAME: Sophomore Melissa Forest came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points, including 10 straight during a key stretch in the second half, to lead the Lobos to a 70-61 victory over Wyoming.Leading just 42-40 early in the second half, Forest scored eight straight points, including back-to-back 3-pointers, to hand the Lobos a 50-40 edge with 12:33 left. UNM grabbed its biggest lead of the game when Tiffany Scaglione hit a 15-footer for a 56-44 margin with 9:51 remaining. The Cowgirls pared the deficit to 60-55 with less than three minutes to go, but UNM thwarted the comeback attempt. Forest got an offensive putback and was fouled with 1:56 left. She missed the free throw, but Chelsea Grear grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Grear made both charities to push the lead back to 10 at 66-56. Senior Molly McKinnon secured New Mexicos 10th straight triumph over Wyoming with four free throws in the final 31 seconds.Forest made 6 of 7 shots from the floor in only 18 minutes. McKinnon and Jordan Adams contributed 12 points apiece. Grear finished with 11, including eight of the Lobos final 14 points of the game.
MORE ON WYOMING: Six Lobo frontcourt players combined for 50 points against Wyoming…UNM got 28 points from its reserves, 14 in each half…10 different Lobos scored in the first period…New Mexico was solid from 3-point, converting 6 of 13 attempts (46%), compared to its season average of 31.7%…McKinnon scored in double figures for the first time in 9 games, since scoring 15 points at San Diego State…the Lobos had four players score in double figures for the 7th time this season…UNM is 7-0 in those games.
UNM VS. RANKED TEAMS: UNM is 2-2 against ranked opponents in 2001-02 with wins over then-No. 8 Texas Tech and then-No. 18 Colorado State. The losses have come against No. 12 Colorado and No. 17 Texas. The Lobos are 4-14 against ranked foes under head coach Don Flanagan. The 74-65 win against Texas Tech snapped an eight-game skid against nationally-ranked teams.
ACADEMIC SUCCESS: The Lobo womens basketball team combined for a 3.19 grade-point-average during the 2001 fall semester. That followed a 3.23 GPA in the spring semester of 2001, which is the highest average since the school began tracking grades in the fall of 1988.
COMEBACK KIDS: Five times – including the last two contests – this season New Mexico has won despite trailing by at least nine points. The comebacks:
OpponentDeficitTimeFinal ScoreArizona36-2618:32, 2ndWon, 75-67Utah45-3216:14, 2ndWon, 66-55Colorado State28-126:51, 1stWon, 56-50San Diego State26-174:51, 1stWon, 63-53at Wyoming24-1511:41, 1stWon, 70-61
LOBOS FANS THE BEST?: From ESPN.com women’s college basketball editor Melanie Jackson (Feb. 22):
Best Fans: All fans, whether they’ve watched the game live for 10 years or just been to their first game this season, are winners in our book. Picking one group is tough, especially since so many teams drew record crowds this season. And while some say there are no better fans than those found in Knoxville or Storrs, we’re leaning toward those loco Lobos fans. New Mexico ranks fifth in attendance this season, averaging just less than 10,000 fans. The Jan. 6 game against UNLV ranks as the fifth-best atttended game (17,215 fans) this season. But it’s the top drawing game that didn’t feature either Tennessee or UConn. Even a blizzard didn’t stop them from packing the house.
QUEENS OF THE BOARDS: New Mexico has a +6.1 rebound margin this season – best in the MWC – and has been out-boarded only three times this season. Some tidbits about the Lobo glass-eaters:
The Lobos are 20-2 when they outrebound their opponent
UNM has outrebounded its opponent in 12 straight games…the last team to get more caroms than UNM was UNLV on Jan. 6…the Lady Rebels had 47 rebounds to the Lobos 36
UNM has recorded double-digit rebound margins 6 times this season, including 3 straight…the Lobos rebound margin the past 3 games is a whopping +36 (+14 at BYU, +11 against San Diego State and at BYU)
Five Lobos are averaging at least 4 rebounds a game
Three Lobos registered double figures in rebounds in the win at BYU: Chelsea Grear (11), Jordan Adams (10) and Mandi Moore (10)
SEASON NOTES: Molly McKinnon has played in 121 career games, starting 101
The Lobos have held opponents to less than 50% shooting from the floor in 49 straight games…the last team to make at least half its shots against New Mexico was Oregon State…the Beavers made 50% (26-52) in Corvallis on Dec. 28, 2000
The last conference foe to shoot at least 50% against New Mexico was Colorado State on Jan. 29, 2000…the Rams made 50.9% (27-53)…the streak is 36 games
Junior Daja Adams came into the Wyoming game having scored just 12 points in 17 games…in a little over a minute against the Cowgirls, Adams scored a career-best 5 points…one of the baskets came on an offensive putback…Adams finished the game with 3 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal in 10 minutes, her most playing time since 11 at UT-San Antonio
Mandi Moore has moved into the top-5 for single-season assists with 132…she only needs 5 more to pass Tamika Stukes (134 in 1997-98 and 136 in 1995-96) for third place
Moore set a career-high with 10 boards at BYU and came within 2 assists of a triple-double…her 8 assists were the most since she had 8 against New Mexico State on Dec. 18
Chelsea Grear logged her team-leading 4th double-double of the season and the 5th of her career at BYU…she has recorded double-figure rebounds six times this season
UNM has done a good job against BYU, one the nations top 3-point shooting teams…the Cougars made 7 of 22 (32%) shots from long range at Provo, below their season average of 8.5 a game and well under their season percentage of 42.5%…in two games against the Lobos this season, BYU shot just 32.5% (41-126) from the floor, including 13 of 45 (29%) from 3-point
Melissa Forest is averaging 8.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 19.2 minutes in 13 MWC games…her non-conference averages in 16 games were 3.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg and 11.1 minutes
Despite just 12 blocks the past 4 games, the Lobos have knocked away 35 attempts the past 6 games and continue to lead the MWC at 5.52 a game UNM shot 51% (25-49) from the floor against Air Force, its 3rd-best accuracy of the season and best in 20 games, since making 34 of 60 (57%) at UTEP on Nov. 23
The Lobos established a season high against Air Force with 12 three-pointers, which matches the second-best effort in school history…the record is 15 vs. BYU on Feb. 1, 1996…New Mexico was 12-25 (48%) from downtown en route to its highest point total (78) in 12 games
Statistical Trends: New Mexico is 20-0 when leading with five minutes left in the game, 17-1 when it outshoots its foe, 15-2 when playing on a weekday, 16-3 when playing at night and 15-2 when it commits fewer turnovers
TOUGH D: In home victories over Colorado State and Wyoming, the Lobos held both teams to their lowest point totals and shooting performances of the season. CSU scored 50 points and shot just 38.1% from the floor. The Cowgirls were limited to 41 points and 21.5% shooting.New Mexico entered the week 1st in the MWC in scoring defense (56.5 ppg), 1st in FG percentage defense (35.0%), 1st in rebound margin (+5.9) and 1st in blocked shots (5.6 a game).
UNM AT HOME: New Mexico is 14-3 at home this season, the only setbacks coming against No. 12 Colorado, Oregon State and UNLV.
ROAD NUMBERS: The Lobos are a solid 7-3 away from The Pit this season. The losses came at nationally-ranked Texas on Dec. 6, at UNLV and at Utah.
BACK AT YA: Led by junior Jordan Adams, the Lobos lead the Mountain West Conference with 149 blocks, a figure that ranks second-best by a UNM team for a season. The season record for rejections is 166 set last year.Twice this season, New Mexico has tied the schools single-game record by swatting away 13 shots: the season opener against Pacific and Feb. 2 against Wyoming. UNM also had 13 blocks against Texas Tech on Jan. 13, 1978.Adams set a Womens Preseason NIT record with seven blocks against Pacific on Nov. 9. She established a career-best with eight against Air Force on Feb. 7. Adams is the UNM womens career leader in rejections with 252. She has 86 blocks this season. Her single-season school record set last year is 98.
SHE DID IT: Adams became only the ninth player in school history to reach to the 1,000-point mark for her career when she nailed a free throw against Portland State on Dec. 15. Adams is only one of three players to get to 1,000 points during her junior year. She ranks 6th all-time at UNM with 1,233 points.
WHERE ADAMS RANKS: Jordan Adams in the UNM record book:
Career Blocked Shots (for both men and women)1. Luc Longley3362. Jordan Adams2523. Kenny Thomas239
Career Scoring1. Abby Garchek1,8362. Alison Foote1,6723. Jean Rostermundt1,4444. Yvonne McKinnon1,4205. Miranda Sanchez1,3016. Jordan Adams1,233
17,215 THANK-YOUS: The Lobos game against UNLV on Jan. 6 was televised on ESPN2. A crowd of 17,215 was able to make the trip to The Pit to watch the game. A the time, it was the second-largest crowd in womens basketball in 2000-01.
HONORS/AWARDS: Adams has been named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week twice this year and she was also chosen MVP of the Southwest Airlines Lobo Shootout on Dec. 22. Chelsea Grear and Mandi Moore were also named Southwest Airlines all-tournament.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Adams had her first double-double of the year against Pacific with 21 points and 10 rebounds. She had three double-doubles last year and has six for her career. Junior Chelsea Grear has registered a team-high four double-doubles for the year and five for her career. Freshman Mandi Moore logged a double-double in her first collegiate game with 15 points and 10 assists in the season-opener against Pacific. The last time a New Mexico player had 10 or more assists was last season when Nikki Heckroth had 11. Moore also had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the win at BYU. Lindsey Arndt has joined the d-d party twice after garnering 17 rebounds and 14 points against Arizona and 15 points and 10 rebounds against Colorado State.
ITS ALL ON THE BENCH: Head coach Don Flanagan regularly uses his reserves as eight Lobos have played in all 27 games while 10 have seen action in at least 24 contests.
FANTASTIC FROSH: The Lobos have three freshmen who have contributed greatly this year. Mandi Moore has started every game at the point, Lindsey Arndt has started all but one at power forward and guard Stephanie Shaw has seen action in every contest. The three players have combined to score 545 points (20.2 ppg), grab 342 rebounds (12.6 rpg) and dish out 223 assists (8.3 apg).Moore leads the MWC in assists (4.9) and assist-to-turnover margin (1.80) and is among the leaders in several other categories: 3rd in 3-point FG% (43.1), 7th in steals (47), 8th in FG% (48.2), 12th in 3-point FGs (1.19 a game), 8th in defensive rebound average (4.27) and 17th in scoring (10.2 ppg). She also leads the team in minutes played as well.Arndt has had two double-doubles this season and had 14 points and 17 rebounds in her fifth collegiate game against Arizona. She ranks third on the team and 12th in the league in rebound average (5.7).
MARGIN OF VICTORY: The Lobos have had eight games this year where the margin of victory has been at least 20 points and four games where it was 30 or more. The average winning margin is 11.9 points. THE INVITATION IS IN THE MAIL: Junior Jordan Adams competed for a chance to represent the USA in the World University Games last summer. She spent three days vying for a spot at the Olympic headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Adams competed against 32 of the nations top womens basketball players. Adams was the only player from the MWC given an invite to the trials.
LONE STAR STATE OF MIND: Of the 12 players on UNMs roster, six hail from Texas. Stephanie Shaw, Brittany Wolfgang, Mandi Moore, Chelsea Grear, Daja Adams and Lauren McLeod all call the Lone Star state home. THIS JUST IN: UNM signed three players to national letters of intent during the early signing period. The group includes: Abbie Letz (El Paso, Texas), a 6-1 post who averaged 19 points and 8 rebounds at Hanks High School; Tiana Johnson (Roswell, NM) a 5-10 post who averaged 24 points and 9 rebounds at Goddard High School; Jana Francis (Canadian, Texas) a 6-2 post player who averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds at Canadian High School.
THE MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE: The MWC was conceived on May 26, 1998, when eight teams announced they were breaking away from the Western Athletic Conference. Those teams Air Force, Brigham Young, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, Utah and Wyoming brought immediate credibility to their new league.Last year, the Lobos finished in a tie for third place. Utah won the regular season title but it was the Colorado State Rams that won the tournament. CSU and Utah both advanced to the NCAA Tournament while UNM, UNLV, BYU and San Diego State played in the WNIT.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HOSTS: The University of New Mexico will host the 2003 NCAA Womens Basketball Midwest Regional. The dates are March 29 and 31. It will be the first time UNM has hosted a womens NCAA tournament game. The Pit has hosted the NCAA mens tournament seven times. Mens action returns to Albuquerque for the 2002 First and Second Rounds on March 14 and 16, and the West Regional on March 24 and 26, 2005.
LOBO HISTORY: The Lobos are in their 24th season of competition. The first womens basketball game at UNM was played on Jan. 10, 1974, a 79-45 loss to Gallup. The all-time record is 325-327. UNM played continuously from 1974-87 before the program was dropped for four seasons from 1988-91. Since its reinstatement before the 1991-92 season, the Lobos are 157-165, but 143-69 in six-plus years under Don Flanagan, who has posted five straight winning seasons.
MWC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE: The Mountain West Conference Tournament is March 6-9 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. Specific game times will be released late Saturday night, March 2.
Wednesday, March 6Quarterfinals (1, 3:30, 7 and 9:30 Mountain Time)No. 1 vs. No. 8No. 4 vs. No. 5No. 3 vs. No. 6No. 2 vs. No. 7
Friday, March 8Semifinals (1 and 3:30 p.m. Mountain Time) No. 1-8 winner vs. No. 4-5 winnerNo. 3-6 winner vs. No. 2-7 winner
Saturday, March 9Championship Game, 4:30 p.m. Mountain Time