by Tom Sena
Daily Lobo
The UNM women's basketball team jumped out to a 19-point lead in the first half, but the Houston Flight made the game interesting as the Lobos held on for a 78-76 overtime win Saturday at The Pit.
Junior guard Mandi Moore led UNM with 21 points, 17 of which came in the first half. Moore was a scorching five for five from 3-point range in the opening period. She also hit two game-winning free throws with 3.5 seconds left in overtime.
Houston's guards hounded Moore in the second half, forcing other Lobos to step up. The Lobos did not respond well, shooting 29 percent in the second half.
UNM head coach Don Flanagan attributed much of the second-half struggle to the Lobos not running the offense, which he said led to poor shot selection.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"We've been running our offense for three weeks now and as soon as it's crunch time, they quit running their offense," Flanagan said. "When we'd run our offense we got good looks."
Houston took advantage of the Lobos' cold shooting in the second half. The Flight hit 52 percent of its shots in the later half, including six of 10 3-pointers.
Flight guard Jamie Redd led all scorers with 27 points and 16 rebounds and Alissa Murphy added 21 points.
Moore said the Lobos might have become too complacent after establishing a big lead.
"We played too relaxed once we got the lead," she said. "The Flight are veteran players and they know how to come back."
Junior forward Lindsey Arndt said it is up to the post players to do their jobs and take some pressure off Moore.
"We all just need to look for the basket and just take it harder at opponents," Arndt said. "We definitely need to go to the basket more."
Arndt, who grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds, also said UNM will have to get used to not having Jordan Adams.
"A lot of times we would just dump it into Jordan and let her do her thing," Arndt said. "Now she's gone and it's time for us posts who are still here to step up and do it for ourselves."
Arndt added that this game served as a learning experience for the freshmen.
"I think they saw a lot of things they haven't seen," she said. "And it kind of opened their eyes to how tough a game can be and the little things we have to do to win."
Freshmen Fatima Maddox, Katie Montgomery, Wande Olude and Julie Briody combined to shoot 7-22 and score 20 points.
Flanagan said he did not expect the game to be as close as it was, but said that regular-season type conditions provide quality experience for the Lobos.
UNM opens regular season play Friday against USC. Tip-off will be at 7 p.m. at The Pit.
