Replacing the Mountain West Conference all-time assist leader couldn't have been an easy task.
UNM women's basketball head coach Don Flanagan had that job ahead of him when senior and captain Mandi Moore went down on Feb. 5 with an eye injury.
Cue stage left: sophomore Katie Montgomery.
Montgomery had never started a game at point guard in college. Before the Colorado State game, she had only been in the starting lineup once this season - not exactly the most likely replacement for Moore, who started every game she was eligible for during her four years at UNM.
Then Moore was jabbed in the eye in a game against the Rams.
Moore missed the next game, at Air Force, and her streak of 115 straight starts had come full circle. She was back at zero.
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Flanagan gave Montgomery the call, and Moore's understudy showed the MWC just what she had learned in a year and a half at school.
"Mandi's taught me a lot that I'll be able to use the next two years," Montgomery said. "Hopefully someday I'll have someone under me that I'll be able to teach, too."
Montgomery's presentation to the rest of the MWC began with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists in 40 minutes played against Air Force on Feb. 10.
She followed it up with an encore against Utah on Sunday that included 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 37 minutes.
All this was from the player who averaged 6.5 points per game before her two 18-point outings.
Moore said she hasn't had to teach the sophomore much.
"Katie was a great player when she came in," she said. "I'm sure she has stepped back and learned some stuff, but she's done a lot of it on her own."
Her legwork paid off. Montgomery kept her starting spot against Utah even though Moore was healthy enough to get the start.
A probable starter for Saturday's game at Brigham Young, Montgomery's not letting her time in the spotlight go to her head.
"It feels good to start, but I try not to let that bother me," Montgomery said. "But it's been good. I think our starting five has played really well together these past couple of games."
Those have all been wins for the Lobos. One came on the road at Utah, where UNM was 0-26 before Sunday.
Montgomery said she's just happy to fill a role for the team.
"Mandi's the leader of this team," she said. "And I wanted to make sure there was a leadership role out there. I kind of stood in that role for a game."
With Moore's eligibility up at the end of this season, Montgomery's role as leader might not be temporary for much longer.
