Floor burns might be senior guard Molly McKinnon's claim to fame on the UNM women's basketball team, but she has turned out to be much more than that.
Head coach Don Flanagan admits that she is more athletic than he had anticipated when he recruited her out of Capital High School in Olympia, Wash. He added that her approach to the game has become more team-oriented than in the past.
"She used to take more of an individual approach where she would just psyche herself up," Flanagan said. "Now she's calmed herself down and is preparing the team. She's taken it upon herself to show leadership and getting everybody focused for a game."
McKinnon has become a more consistent scorer, a better shooter and a strong defender for the Lobos. McKinnon credits her scoring improvement to Flanagan and her dad.
"Every year my stats have improved, but that's because coach Flanagan has helped me with my shot and my dad passes to me every summer, so I contribute that to them," McKinnon said.
Her shooting percentage has gone from 29.8 percent her freshman year in 1998-99 to 48.6 percent last season. Consequently, her scoring average went from 3.2 points per game to 10.2 in 2000-2001. McKinnon was one of UNM's most reliable free-throw shooters last year at 83.3 percent.
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This season, McKinnon said she worked on making her 3-point shot quicker, which has hurt her accuracy for the time being, but she felt comfortable with it.
But, of course, the one thing that struck Flanagan when he recruited her was her aggressive style of play.
"During the whole visit, her high school coach's tape of Molly was her diving on the floor about 30 times," Flanagan said. "If effort meant anything, we knew Molly would be a great basketball player."
Despite that, McKinnon said she sometimes worries that people overlook the other things she does, but she is more than willing to do that for the team. She said that her effort stems from elementary school, when she would play football with her brothers, who were a couple of years older.
"I'd come home crying, and my dad would say, 'Don't play with the boys if you can't handle it,'" McKinnon said. "So, they were more physical and I think I benefited from that."
McKinnon said she was shocked to start the season as the only senior. During the off-season, center Susan Bocock left the team, making her the fourth of that five-player recruiting class to leave UNM. Shock wore off after awhile, and McKinnon said she sees a benefit in her situation.
"If anything, it's going to help the team out next year," McKinnon said. "There's only one spot to fill, and you can replace athletic skill."
McKinnon would like to accomplish one goal before she leaves - making the NCAA Tournament field. She said she would also like to raise some havoc in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, but she admitted that she would feel let down if the team didn't advance to the Big Dance.
"I want to go and so does this team," McKinnon said. "I think we're going scratch, claw, do anything to get there."
