The No. 25 Utah Utes will invade The Pit Saturday, looking to extend their nine-game winning streak. But the Lobos will do everything they can to end it in what is expected to be one of the biggest Mountain West Conference match-ups of the year.
With a win, UNM could move into a tie with Utah for first-place honors.
The Utes are leading the MWC with a perfect 9-0 record, including a win over UNM last month in Salt Lake City.
"It's big because we thought we should have won there," junior point guard Mandi Moore said. "We just didn't pull it out. If we can get a win here, this gets us closer to a tie for the conference, and it'll put us in a good position going into the tournament."
But Saturday, the Lobos will have three things they were lacking in Utah - a home floor advantage, senior forward Melissa Forest and junior forward Lindsey Arndt.
Actually, Arndt played against the Utes, but she didn't score. Arndt leads the Lobos in scoring and rebounding, and Forest is right on her heels in both areas. Forest did not play in Utah because she had the flu.
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As a result the Lobos lacked an inside presence and Moore said it showed.
"We got out-rebounded, bad," Moore said. "They got some big rebounds on us."
But the Lobos have regrouped and are well-rested after an easy home win - a 48 point blow out - over the Air Force Falcons.
Plus, head coach Don Flanagan said the team has significantly improved since the last time the Utes saw them.
"I think we're playing better," Flanagan said. "I think we've achieved that we're improving. They're all starting to know one another and play well."
Utah is also coming off a win Saturday over Wyoming. The only opponents the Utes have lost to this season are UC-Santa Barbara, Oklahoma, Oregon State and Montana.
With the Utes comes the MWC Newcomer of the Year Kim Smith. Smith is leading the Utes in scoring and in rebounding, averaging 16 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
"She's a very good player and she's done a good job in her two years at Utah," Moore said. "She reads the defense extremely well. I think that's what I'm most impressed with - the way she reads the defense and how she always gets herself open."
Moore said Utah did an impressive job reading the Lobo defense and getting open shots, but the Lobos were still able to limit the Utes to only 32 percent scoring.
Moore said to beat the Utes, UNM is going to have to execute on offense and on the boards.
"We're also going to have to read their defense the way they read ours," she said. "We gave up five or six good shots because they countered what we threw at them on defense."
Utah head coach Elaine Elliott is the only opposing coach in the MWC who has a winning record at The Pit. Elliott is in her 21st year as the Utah head coach, with a record of 432-175.
Tip-off against the Utes is slated for 7:05 p.m. at The Pit.
