When UNM head coach Don Flanagan said the women's basketball team is a deep squad this year, he wasn't kidding.
In fact, the young Lobo team may have finally stepped out of the shadow of last season's Mountain West Conference championship team, by defeating the USC Trojans, who beat UNM in last year's season opener.
It wasn't UNM's star guard Mandi Moore who led the Lobos in their 77-75 thriller over the USC Trojans and it wasn't veteran forward Melissa Forest, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
It was freshman Julie Briody who stepped up and led UNM with 18 points in her regular-season debut on The Pit floor.
Moore came out and hit her first two shots, but was immediately smothered by defenders. With other notable players Lindsey Arndt and Abbie Letz watching from the sidelines, the freshmen guards took over for UNM.
At one point, four newcomers including Fatima Maddox, Wande Olude, Katie Montgomery and Briody were not only keeping the Lobos alive, but keeping USC at bay.
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"We had four freshman out there and I was thinking 'What the heck am I doing?'" Flanagan said. "But as I was watching, I thought we'd be OK."
UNM led by as many as 10 points in the first half, however, the lead dwindled to three early in the second.
Still, Flanagan said he had no poor thoughts on UNM's performance.
"I certainly think we have room to improve," he said. "But beating a team with that caliber of talent, this early in the season - I'm proud of this team."
Moore finished with 11 points to go along with five rebounds, and four assists.
"One of the things Mandi's got to understand is when people look at our team and ask 'Who do we need to stop?' every single time it's going to be Mandi," Flanagan said.
Olude and Maddox contributed four and five points, respectively.
Briody said playing in front of the biggest crowd of her basketball career, 11,816, did not sidetrack her.
"You're just thinking about how to score," she said. "Not about the fans. You can defintely hear them because they're so loud, but you just have to do your job on the court."
