by Tom Sena
Daily Lobo
In the midst of UNM's 69-52 loss to the University of South Carolina on Saturday night, an unlikely player emerged as one of the few bright spots for the Lobos.
Senior Lauren McLeod had her best game of the season and one of the best of her career. She finished with a team-high 15 points in 23 minutes of action. That point total is McLeod's career-high, besting a 14-point effort against UNLV during her freshman season.
Coming into Saturday night's contest McLeod was averaging 3.7 points per game, scoring 22 points in six games. McLeod said she was happy to give the Lobos a boost off the bench.
"I'm used to coming off the bench," McLeod said. "I try every time I go in there to be some sort of spark, whether it's defensive or offensive."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Lobos were down 17-9 early in the first half and needed a spark to get things going - that's when McLeod answered the call.
Coming off a timeout at the 11:22 mark in the first half, she scored 10 of the Lobos' next 12 points in a five-minute span as UNM cut the lead down to three. McLeod said she felt comfortable during the scoring spurt and got an unusual amount of open shots in the first half.
"The posts did a really good job of distributing the ball and I just had a lot of open looks," she said. "I try not to pass up open looks ever."
She finished the game shooting five for seven from the field including three of four from 3-point range. The other Lobos combined to shoot one of 13 from beyond the arc. McLeod is now a blistering seven of nine from 3-point range this season.
Head coach Don Flanagan said this is the best game McLeod has had all year because she played up to her potential. That is something, he said, most of the Lobos did not do on Saturday.
But McLeod's and UNM's productivity dropped a few notches in the second half. McLeod said the team could not get an offensive flow going.
"I think everybody's rhythm was thrown off in the second half," she said. "South Carolina picked up their defense and we were having trouble on offense. We weren't moving the ball like we were in the first half."
McLeod only played ten minutes in the second half, but said she understood why. She attributes her sitting in the second half to a couple of sloppy turnovers early in the period.
She also said the Lobos were trying a different style of offense to get back in the game and Flanagan needed the right personnel on the court.
McLeod added that a game like this can help to jump-start the rest of her season.
"It's my last year and I just try to play my best every time I go out there," she said. "It was fun tonight so hopefully it will happen again."
