by Phil Parker
Daily Lobo
Katie Montgomery's clutch jumpers netted the Lobos an unlikely 70-66 win over the UNLV Rebels Saturday night in front of more than 18,000 fans in The Pit.
After playing from behind for most of the second half, UNM managed to chip the Rebel's lead to just two points, at 66-64, with less than three minutes remaining. With just 1:10 left in the game, Montgomery drove the ball right and pulled up for a short jumper that tied the score.
After a Lobo defensive stop at the other end, the freshman point guard once again had the ball in her hands, this time with the game on the line. The shot clock wound down as the Lobos' set play fell apart, and with just seconds left, Montgomery drove into the lane and put up a tough leaner in the face of two defenders.
The shot dropped and the Lobos had a two-point lead with just 20 seconds left to play.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"I don't know how she made that second shot," Lobo head coach Don Flanagan said. "If she shot that 50 times, she couldn't make that shot again."
Montgomery said after they passed the ball around for awhile, everybody started yelling "shot clock."
"There was only about two seconds left, so I figured I was just going to drive and draw a foul," she said. "I ended up making it, and I didn't even know there was only 20 seconds left in the game until they called that time out."
The Rebels had a chance to tie or win, but a steal by Melissa Forest, who was quickly fouled, ended the possession for UNLV. Forest hit both free throws to cement the win.
The senior forward Forest had a big game for UNM with 20 points and eight rebounds.
"Coach looked at me and was like, 'You go take over or it's going to be tough for us,'" Forest said. "He called me out a little bit, and I went and answered him."
Flanagan gave Forest credit for her performance on the boards.
"Melissa was really great on the rebounds," Flanagan said. "She really got beat up."
The game was tied at 36 after a tough first half of back-and-forth scoring, but the second half started badly for UNM. UNLV seemed to take the game over with a 16-4 run over the first eight minutes.
"I think we got a little out of control," Forest said. "But people came together and calmed back down."
UNM chipped away at the lead and rallied to within two points three times before Montgomery's clutch shooting buried the Rebels, giving UNM a huge conference win.
The Lobos will go to Fort Collins, Colo. on Thursday to face the Colorado State Rams.
