by Marcella Ortega
Daily Lobo
Despite a 24-point loss to Texas Christian on Wednesday, Katie Montgomery remained optimistic about this season.
The UNM women's basketball team's senior guard was enthusiastic that the Lobos could turn things around.
"Obviously, we've had a few losses that we shouldn't have had, but we still have a long season left," she said. "We still have nine games, so hopefully, we can turn it around and get some good wins."
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In Saturday's 77-56 win against UNLV, Montgomery provided the spark the Lobos needed.
She scored 19 points, grabbed four rebounds and had six assists. Montgomery - the third-leading scorer for the season behind Dionne Marsh and Julie Briody - scored all her points in the
first half.
With UNM holding a 16-11 lead, Montgomery took the game over, nailing three 3-pointers in a row to extend the lead to 25-11 at the 10:11 mark.
Montgomery said she had good looks at the basket early in
the game.
"I was open, and they were in a zone," she said. "When I get in trouble, and when I'm not shooting well is when I hesitate. I just wanted to come out and do what I could to win tonight. We needed a win after that TCU loss."
Head coach Don Flanagan said Montgomery has a great shot and can get away with taking deep 3-pointers.
"She probably took one about 24, 25 feet," he said. "That's OK, if it goes in."
Montgomery said poise was the key to Saturday's win.
"When we're shooting well, it helps with everybody else's
confidence," she said. "Everybody was just real confident with
the ball."
Montgomery said that as a senior, she felt a little pressure to get the team started fast in Saturday's game.
"It kind of comes with the territory," she said. "I'm trying to do whatever I can to help this
team out."
For the second half, Montgomery was pressed by UNLV guard Allison Holiday. Although Montgomery was held scoreless in the second half, she controlled the ball and helped limit the Lobos to turning the ball over eight times in the game.
"We just needed to take care of the ball," she said. "That was one of our keys going in to the game. UNLV's always been that pressure team. I thought we did a good job of trying to get it in."
Flanagan said Montgomery performed well against UNLV's pressure in the second half.
"I thought Katie ran the show very well - did a nice job,"
he said.
Montgomery said the win should boost the Lobos' morale for the rest of the season.
"This win helps our team just for the fact that I think that's going to give us confidence," she said. "We just got to make sure we get these next two home games before we go on the
road again."
