Forget a barn burner.
When the UNM women's basketball team took on DePaul on Monday, the entire Pit nearly caught fire.
And not just with excitement - though there was plenty of that.
UNM improved to 3-0 on the year, as Amy Beggin proved to be a savior with her last-second layup that propelled the Lobos to a 68-66 victory.
DePaul didn't have a deadly cast of 3-point shooters, but two were sufficient enough, as the Blue Demons used a steady blend of 3-pointers to build a slim 38-37 lead at halftime.
DePaul shot just 22 percent from behind the arc in its two wins against Idaho State and Alcorn State. But against the Lobos, the Blue Demons shot 38 percent from 3-point land, including 46 percent in the first half.
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DePaul's Sam Quigley and Deirdre Naughton accounted for eight of the Blue Demons' nine 3-point field goals.
"They kept knockin' them in," Flanagan said. "And I kept saying, 'They don't shoot like that.' And they'd knock another one in. It was kind of like that movie, with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I kept saying, 'Who is that kid?' And she just kept knockin' them in."
Still, some last-second heroics by Beggin were the difference, with the Lobos outlasting the Blue Demons 68-66. Beggin finished with 11 points.
Beggin took the inbound pass coast-to-coast and layed it up. A desperation heave by DePaul didn't come close to the rim, and the Lobos captured the hardware to the Travelers Tip-Off Tournament.
"The one thing you can depend on is Amy Beggin," Flanagan said. "At the end with that drive, I knew she was going to make it. She's just that kind of kid; she just believes in herself."
For much of the game, however, the Lobos were involved in a seesaw battle. At one point DePaul led by 12 points in the first half, but UNM scratched and clawed its way back into it, heading into the half down only one.
The Blue Demons came out and looked to snatch back the momentum.
Sam Quigley hit a 3-pointer to put the Demons up 55-46.
Flanagan quickly signaled for a time-out after Quigley buried the 3-pointer.
And the time-out seemed to coagulate the Lobos' bleeding.
After the time-out, UNM held the Blue Demons to five points in a span of 9:23.
Flanagan said knowing when to call time-outs isn't an exact science.
"I guess," he said drawing laughs. "Actually, sometimes it's a feel - it's more a feel for your team than it is the situation. You look at your team and (say), 'Do we need to regroup? Do I need to talk about something?' It's hard in a time-out situation, too. You have 30 seconds."
During the Blue Demons' scoring drought, UNM managed to trim the gap to one point, thanks to a deep 3-pointer by Beggin that pulled the Lobos to 58-57.
"Actually, when I took it, it felt really good," said Beggin, who was named to the All-Tournament team. "As soon as it left my hand, I felt it was good."
Flanagan said Beggin has the liberty to shoot from wherever she wants.
"She can shoot any time she wants," he said. "She has the greenest light."
DePaul's Felicia Chester quieted the crowd with a layup, putting the Blue Demons up 60-57.
A turn-around jumper by Angela Hartill, who scored 17 points, again put the Lobos within one at 60-59, and a clutch 3-pointer by Sara Halasz gave the Lobos the lead for the first time since the 19:29 mark in the first half.
UNM never looked in the rearview mirror.
An acrobatic kiss-off-glass banker by Beggin put the Lobos at 64-60, but DePaul's Naughton answered back with a three of her own, trimming the lead to one at 64-63.
Two free throws by Halasz put the Lobos up 66-63, until yet another Naughton trey tied up the game at 66-66 with 2:07 left in the game, setting up a dramatic finish.
After an offensive foul was called against Natasha Williams, Beggin took the inbounds pass and never looked to pass - for once.
"I was hoping No. 20 wouldn't swat her," joked Hartill, who was named MVP at the conclusion of the tournament. "No, but I had confidence in her that she would make that."
Women's basketball at Stanford
Thursday, 7 p.m.
Palo Alto, Calif.
