These days when people think of the Lobos they envision fiesty sophomore point guard Mandi Moore or the offensive grace and defensive dominance of Jordan Adams, or maybe they think of forward Chelsea Grear, who is always tearing down offensive rebounds over bigger opponents.
Behind this strong and talented group of women, there is a man who watches each player's every move, constantly looking to better a program that has continued improving since his arrival.
That man is head coach Don Flanagan, a local legend who amassed Albuquerque high school records as head coach of El Dorado High School before moving up to the college ranks. With all of the recent success, Flanagan has remained a constant teacher pointing out things that could have been done better after each victory.
"The part that I like best about coaching is the teaching of the game," he said. "That's the part that I enjoy personally."
After the Lobos' 73-61 victory over third-seeded Mississippi State University on Monday, Flanagan held true to form stressing the importance of improving.
"Sometimes we're a little impatient as the clock winds down," he said. "We're just going to have to shoot our free throws a lot better so we can close games out better."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
For the most part, Flanagan praised his team following the game. He is by no means a Bobby Knight-like obsessive disciplinary, but when Flanagan speaks, his players listen. You can see it in their eyes during timeouts as the whole team focuses solely on their instructions and is unfazed by the tremendously loud arena. The players have bought into his philosophy -- and it's working.
Flanagan allows his players the freedom to play their game but is quick to harness that autonomy if need be. An example of this can be seen in freshman guard Abbie Letz. She is an impact player that comes off the bench and can make things happen. However, like most freshmen, Letz has a tendency to make mistakes.
Almost every time that Letz comes out of the game, Flanagan squats down in front of her and has a face-to-face conversation to make sure they are on the same page regardless of what may be going on in the game at that moment.
Teaching all the time, there is always room for improvement.
In the pressure packed job of running the UNM women's basketball team, Flanagan has responded and has the Lobos on the verge of multiple school records. Flanagan does not cherish the prospects of having to live up to high expectations and does find it stressful at times.
"Golf is fun, coaching in pressure situations -- it's difficult but it's part of my job," he said.
That's Flanagan, always taking his job seriously but never getting ahead of himself. On Monday, the Lobos led by 10 points or more most of the game but you would never have been able to tell that had you only been watching the facial expressions of UNM's head coach.
With a few minutes left, Mandi Moore tossed up a 3-pointer with plenty of time still left on the shot clock and Flanagan hollering to hold the ball. The shot went in and an exasperated coach looked to the crowd with a face of relief.
"With four seconds to go, I started getting confident," he said.
Overall, Flanagan was delighted with his team's performance. But as any great coach would, he saw beyond the game as a single victory. He saw it as another opportunity to get better.
"We played an outstanding game," he said. "We had a great presentation to America on ESPN. We'll probably have a few people interested in our program after seeing this crowd, the way we performed, the upset victory and a chance to go to the Sweet 16. It is sweet."
He added that anything is possible for the Lobos in the upcoming rounds.
"If their [the players'] expectations are very high, then there is no telling where we're going," he said.
