If Amy Beggin wasn't playing basketball at UNM, she might be a world-renowned escape artist.
Including Saturday's game against BYU, the UNM women's basketball team has beat teams by an average of 20 points per contest in its 14 wins. Saturday's 61-57 escape marks only the third game of the season for the Lobos that's been decided by five points or fewer. All three games have resulted in Lobo victories, and in all three of those wins, Beggin has somehow orchestrated the heroics.
And on Saturday, Beggin signed, sealed and delivered a telegram to BYU. Beggin skinned the Cougars at home in the Marriott Center, the same place where the Lobos had combined for just six wins in 28 tries. Try No. 29 equaled a lucky seventh win, as UNM sweated out a 61-57 victory.
Beggin, who had four points and was 2-of-8 from the field to that point, saved her last six points for the remaining 30 seconds of the game.
Up 57-54 after Angela Hartill converted one of her two free-throw attempts, the Lobos called timeout. BYU needed a 3-pointer; Amy Beggin needed a steal.
Beggin's tenacity won out.
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"We decided we were going to switch off screens," Beggin said. "Amanda was guarding the post player, and my player set a screen for her player. So, I just jumped out and they threw it. Luckily, it went to me. It was a great strategy for us."
Beggin put the Lobos up 59-54.
But the Cougars once again narrowed the gap to two, 59-57, with two seconds left courtesy of a Jenteal Jackson 3-pointer.
After a foul by BYU, Beggin stepped to the line with one second and sunk two more.
"It's just a little bit of mental toughness," Beggin said. "We just wanted it a little bit more at the end. I just wanted to be the one to have the ball at the end. It's about preparing yourself for
the moment."
As the conference wears on, Beggin said the Lobos can expect that trend - playing in close games - to continue.
"I think a lot of games in our conference are going to be close," she said. "I know my teammates are counting on me, and I've been there before. I just try to relax and visualize. I try to visualize myself at the free-throw line."
Must be nice for the Lobos. So far, in close games, Beggin's visualizations have become realizations for UNM.
"We persevered," head coach Don Flanagan told GoLobos.com. "It was a big game, and we played well enough to win. BYU will beat almost any team in the conference here."
