When the 2001-2002 UNM women's basketball season began, several questions surrounded the Lobo team.
l Will the freshmen be able to fill key vacancies at point guard and power forward?
l Can UNM build on the momentum from last season's run to the Women's National Invitation Tournament championship game to become a better team?
l Can the young squad survive a tough non-conference schedule and compete in the Mountain West Conference?
All those questions were met with a resounding yes throughout the year. The Lobos posted one of their most successful seasons in school history, recording their fourth 20-win season in the previous five years with a 22-9 record. The team also earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament for the first time and made its second overall tournament appearance in school history.
"It was a pretty successful season; I always have high expectations going into a season," head coach Don Flanagan said. "Some players exceeded my expectations, but not as a team because I always expect a good team."
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The Lobos completed an impressive season because of improved play from the experienced players, one of the nation's stingiest defenses, a great homecourt advantage in The Pit and stellar performances from two freshmen - Mandi Moore and Lindsey Arndt.
"The freshmen were the key because they performed at such a high level throughout the season," Flanagan said. "And our returning players played up to their potential."
Moore and Arndt played beyond their experience, providing leadership and scoring. Arndt scored 7.7 points and 5.5 rebounds a game, while being the team's second best defender. Moore led the conference in assists with 4.7 per game and scored 9.4 points per game to be named Newcomer of the Year.
"We had key positions open at the point and (power forward) position after losing some key players last year," Flanagan said. "We had to find players that would be able to fill those positions and the two freshmen did that. They might have even played at a higher level than last year's players."
With good team chemistry, the Lobos burst out of the gates with an 11-3 start in the pre-conference schedule. Their opponents were some of the best teams in the nation, including three ranked teams. Although UNM was only 1-2 in those games, the breakthrough win came against then-ninth-ranked Texas Tech University by a score of 74-65 in The Pit on Nov. 30. Texas Tech was 9-0 all-time versus the Lobos.
"Tech is the measuring stick of the Southwest," Flanagan said. "The win proved that if we can beat Texas Tech, we can beat a lot of teams. It gave us confidence that we can beat some of the best teams in the nation. The NCAA looked at us in a more positive fashion and I think it was a big factor in getting us the at-large bid."
With confidence and momentum growing, UNM, picked in the preseason to finish fifth in the Mountain West Conference, battled through the conference to finish in second place.
"Our preseason schedule was so strong that the conference was not as difficult," Flanagan said. "We were successful in our conference because of the pre-conference games."
The Lobos also flourished in clogging the opponents' offense. UNM put the clamps down defensively, winning most of its games by stifling the other teams' offensive weapons. With a physical, team-oriented style, the Lobos finished the year with one of the stingiest defenses in the country. They finished 11th in the nation in points per game allowed and field goal percentage defense, giving up 57 points per game at a 36 percent clip.
While the defense was the strength of the team, the offense was the weakness. With no go-to player, UNM bogged down offensively and went through stretches of games struggling to score points. The lack of an offensive punch cost the Lobos numerous games, including UNM's 58-44 loss to the University of Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Lobos finished fourth in the conference in scoring and shooting percentage at 65.8 points per game and 41.1 percent shooting.
"We got to get people that can score, players who are confident scorers," Flanagan said. "We need an attack attitude ingrained in the players."
He added that the priority in the off-season will be to work on improving the players' offensive skills.
One thing the Lobos do not have to develop is the increasing fan base and attention the women's program is receiving after such a stellar season. But Flanagan said with that extra attention brings more pressure to perform at a high level.
"When you have success, people expect success, but there is always pressure to get better," Flanagan said. "We always make goals that we think are in our reach and we go out trying to accomplish those goals every year."
But the Lobos will likely have relatively few problems continuing their development and success next year, with 10 of the 12 players returning, including four of five starters.
"We are committed to bringing another strong season next year," Flanagan said.
