Opportunity once again waits for the UNM women's basketball team as it faces conference leader Colorado State University Thursday night in The Pit.
Just days after watching a golden opportunity to steal a road win slip away against the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, the Lobos face the Mountain West Conference's first place team and have a chance to cut into the Rams' two-game advantage over UNM and the Rebels.
UNM held a 40-25 lead over UNLV moments into the second half on Saturday, but wilted under the heat of the Rebels' 57 percent second-half shooting from the field as they cruised to a 72-60 win.
While a chance may have been lost, head coach Don Flanagan said the team has moved on and are ready for the 19th-ranked Rams.
"If we thought of it as a golden opportunity and felt terrifically bad about it and then didn't play well against CSU, it certainly wouldn't help us at all," Flanagan said.
What can help is having a healthy Jordan Adams for Thursday night's game after struggling for the past two weeks with a back injury. It hindered her performance last week, scoring a total of nine points in two games against UNLV and San Diego State University. Flanagan said he has limited her practice time this week and her exposure to physical play.
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"I think she's OK, she's just sore, tender," Flanagan said. "She needs rest, but at this time of year you're not going to get it."
Meanwhile, sophomore forward Melissa Forest has given the team a lift in Adams' limited presence, leading the team with 16 points in a starting role Saturday and adding 10 points against the Aztecs on Thursday. In conference play, Forest is the third-leading scorer for the Lobos, averaging 9.7 points per game.
"The last few games, I've played pretty well," Forest said. "So I knew I could do it, and Jordan got hurt and somebody had to step up."
The Rams may have little sympathy for the Lobos' plight when compared to their own, injury-riddled season. Eight players have missed games at some point of the season, including a potentially devastating injury to point guard Elizabeth English.
The junior, who was leading the team in scoring with 13 points per game, tore her right anterior cruciate ligament Dec. 14 against Xavier University. CSU struggled for a while, including back-to-back losses to unranked Marquette University and Loyola Marymount University, but have reeled off six straight wins.
Its biggest wins during the run were an 87-77 triple-overtime thriller against the University of Utah and a 62-57 contest against UNLV. The Rams are 5-0 in the MWC and a win against UNM would give them a three-game edge.
CSU is led by the tandem of Angie Gorton and Ashley Augspurger, who combine to average 28 points per game. The team has also gotten help from Lisa Narkiewicz, a junior center who is averaging 9.8 points per game in conference play.
Flanagan said the Rams have a wealth of talent and experience that has helped them weather the storm.
"They have good depth and great experience," Flanagan said. "Many of their players have been playing as starters for three years."
While the team isn't as explosive offensively since English's injury, the Rams have compensated with a stingy defense that is allowing 59.2 points per game in conference games, behind only Utah and UNM in that category.
"That player (English) was such a threat from the 3-point line, that their high pick-and-roll is still good, but it's not as good without her," Flanagan said. "She can really drill it."
UNM and CSU played three times last season, with the teams splitting two regular season games and the Rams beating the Lobos 70-65 in the semifinals of the conference tournament. Game time is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. It can be heard on the radio at 610 KNML-AM.
