by Kevin McFarland
Daily Lobo
UNM women's basketball sophomore Brandi Kimble didn't have the first year she might have wanted last season.
After all, she played more than 15 minutes only three times.
Adjusting to Division I basketball was more than just growing pains for her though.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
The real story behind Kimble's rocky freshman year began while she was in her senior year at Lynwood High School in Lynwood, Calif. After signing a letter of intent with UNM, Kimble tore her anterior cruciate ligament. The injury resulted in a freshman season in which Kimble rarely made it off the bench.
"I don't think she was fully recovered last year," Lobo head coach Don Flanagan said. "She was very tentative, and that restricted her play more than anything else. The injury really held her back and didn't let her play her game."
But after Kimble's second surgery to remove scar tissue during last offseason, her quality minutes and almost eight points per game this year suggest that those nagging knee problems may be a thing of the past.
Kimble's showing in Mountain West Conference play echoes that sentiment. The 5-foot-8-inch guard has scored in double figures in three of the Lobos' four conference contests, scoring 16 points in the first MWC game against Utah.
"The knee feels great," Kimble said. "My strength and speed have come back, and I don't need to baby it anymore. Last year I was second-guessing myself, never wanting to put too much pressure on my knee."
Flanagan said Kimble's improvement continues to please UNM's coaching staff.
"She's improved dramatically from one year to the next, plus she's healthy," Flanagan said. "She's still got some things to work on overall, but we're obviously very happy with where she's at."
By taking her game to the next level, Kimble has earned a spot on the Lobos' starting roster - something that seemed almost impossible last season. And something she doesn't plan to give up anytime soon.
"I'm going to keep stepping it up," Kimble said. "I want to make sure I improve on different aspects of my game every year."
Kimble is by no means done terrorizing MWC foes. No. 1 on her list is the Air Force Academy, who the Lobos play Saturday in Colorado Springs, Colo.
But Kimble admits she has another MWC game marked on her calendar. She is waiting for another shot at Texas Christian University, the only conference rival that has defeated the Lobos this season.
Just as Kimble bounced back from a torn ACL and two knee surgeries, she hopes the Lobos can bounce back when they meet TCU at The Pit on Feb. 12.
"I always take a loss hard, at least for that day after," Kimble said. "But that makes me that much more focused when we play a team that beat us like TCU. We won't make the same mistakes we made before."
