LAS VEGAS - The UNM women's basketball team showed again Wednesday that its defense can give it a chance to win any game.
The Lobos beat No. 5 seed BYU 59-41 in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
Thanks to teamwork on defense, the Lobos held the Cougars to just 17 first half points.
UNM's chemistry was a deciding factor in the game, head coach Don Flanagan said.
"We helped each other out a lot on defense," he said. "I thought the first half was the key that we shut them down. They didn't score many points first half."
The Lobos will look to put up the same effort against Colorado State today in the tournament semifinals.
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The No. 9 Rams have suddenly caught fire after going 0-16 in conference during the regular season. They beat No. 8 BYU in Tuesday's play-in game before pulling off an astounding 60-54 upset of No. 1 Utah on Wednesday.
Colorado State was 2-27 overall coming into the tournament and was on a 20-game losing streak.
Meanwhile, Utah was ranked No. 12 in the nation, riding a 22-game win streak before getting knocked off by the Rams.
Utah fell to 27-4 but will likely earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
UNM defeated the Rams by 27 points on the road Feb. 6 and by 31 points at The Pit on March 8.
Rams head coach Jen Warden said advancing past the Lobos will not be an easy task.
"I think that's a very talented team," she said. "We're going to have to really not only work off the court, but it's going to be a battle on the court to contain some of the players we've had trouble containing in the past. Dionne Marsh is a quandary for us. I've guarded her with a freshman the last two games, and you don't want to guard the player of the year with a freshman."
And trying to score on UNM's defense won't be a walk in the park, either.
On Wednesday, UNM forced BYU to commit 25 turnovers, which the Lobos turned into 35 points - more than half their total score.
The Lobos grabbed 10 steals in the game from five players. Senior Brandi Kimble and freshman Amy Beggin led the team with three steals each.
Flanagan said the Lobos spend a great deal of time on the defensive end of the floor.
"We work a lot on defense," he said. "It's not something that just happens. A lot of our practice - I would say 60 percent of our practice - is defense. I always feel like if we can defend and get enough points, we'll win games."
Women's basketball at Mountain West Conference Tournament
No. 4 UNM vs. No. 9 Colorado State
Today, 1 p.m.
Las Vegas
