by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
When the UNM women's basketball team lost Abbie Letz after last season, it saw its leading rebounder and one of its top scorers depart.
Luckily for the Lobos, the player who took over her spot stepped in without missing a beat.
Senior guard Julie Briody has led the Lobos to a 4-2 start this season by averaging 14.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
She is UNM's second-leading scorer, behind junior forward Dionne Marsh.
UNM head coach Don Flanagan said he is not surprised at how much Briody has contributed offensively early in the season.
"Julie's always been a scorer," he said. "Now she's starting to learn how to do it within the framework of an offense."
Briody is concerned more with winning than individual stats, but she embraces her role as one of Lobos' top offensive players.
"I could care less if I scored two points and we won," she said. "The thing is, I know that the team relies on me to score, other than Dionne, because Dionne gets a lot of double teams. Whenever I need to, I'll score as much as I can."
Flanagan said scoring is not the only area that Briody has progressed in.
"She didn't used to play very good defense," he said. "Her player got zippo (Saturday). And that was a player that was on the all-conference team. She's really improved in all aspects of her game."
Rebounding is one area Briody has focused on. In Saturday's 78-39 win against Siena, she finished the game with a game-high seven rebounds to go along with her 19 points.
Briody said she is happy to take on the role that Letz had last season.
"Abbie Letz was a great guard rebounder," Briody said. "I knew that I was going to have to come in and fill a little bit of
that void."
Flanagan said he can see the similarities between Briody
and Letz.
"Abbie was a little bit more verbal. Julie's more shy and quiet," he said. "But Julie's really motivated to have a great senior year. I'm happy that she's got a good start."
One of the most impressive stats this season has been Briody's performance at the free-throw line. She has only missed one free throw in six regular-season games this year, going 30-for-31 from the line.
Briody said making free throws is more mental than anything.
"I do practice a lot, but it's all mental," she said. "I go up and say, 'If I worked this hard to get to the line, I might as well make them.' I take a lot of pride in free-throw shooting."
If Briody keeps improving, she will be a force in the Mountain West Conference, Flanagan said.
"As she starts to read the defense and have confidence in her ability to do any of the things than she can do," he said, "then there's no telling how good she can be."
