Not that The Pit isn’t toasty enough, but Lobo fans might have considered wearing insulated, extreme arctic jackets to the UNM women’s basketball game against Wyoming on Saturday.
The Lobos, against Utah, nearly caused the few fans to develop a severe case of frostbite.
UNM watched a stranglehold lead disappear, resulting in a 46-40 loss to the Utes on Jan. 12. Talk about glacial shooting conditions — UNM hit only 10.7 percent from the field.
Must have been a one-time gig.
UNM (10-6 overall) shot an improved — yet not blistering — 47.4 percent from the field, including 50 percent from the 3-point line (8-of-16), handing the Cowgirls a 74-61 loss and evening the Lobos’ Mountain West Conference record to 2-2.
Two weeks ago, fans questioned Don Flanagan’s ability to coach, spouting off on the radio and in the Sports Speak Up section of the Albuquerque Journal, following a 61-39 drubbing in The Pit against San Diego State.
UNM’s dreadful shooting performance in Salt Lake City did little to quiet fans’ rash soapbox diatribes.
But Saturday’s win helped stabilize what’s been a turbulent two-week period for the Lobos and Flanagan.
And Flanagan said having selective memory — no matter the criticism — is paramount in overcoming shooting ruts.
“I always thought (we) were a pretty good shooting team, but they have to think that they’re a good shooting team,” he said. “That’s the most important thing. They went to a zone late, and we hit some big 3s against the zone. And that’s a confidence builder, because, when you play a zone in practice, everybody hits a 3. Then in the game, a lot of times people pucker a little bit on a 3.”
Perhaps Flanagan’s right, and UNM’s stroke was only temporarily lost in translation, but the Lobos needed OnStar to locate the hoop in Salt Lake City.
Surprisingly, however, there was little to no hangover at The Pit against Wyoming.
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Jessica Kielpinski settled the Lobos in early, going on a seven-point tear by her lonesome — all in a little more than a minute — which padded the Lobos’ cushion, 35-30, at the half. Kielpinski finished with 11 points and six rebounds on 4-of-9 shooting.
In the second half, Amanda Best drilled a number of step-back jumpers. The Cowgirls played timid defense on Best, allowing her to fake driving into the lane and leaving open a slew of stop-and-pop shots, which Best deposited with ease.
Best said the Lobos hesitated to put up shots against the Utes, possibly leading to the inexplicable 10-percent shooting performance.
“We weren’t looking to shoot. We were just passing and hoping another person would shoot,” said Best, who added a game-high 21 points, four rebounds and four assists. “I think a lot of people took it upon themselves to hit shots. If you come to our practice, we hit shots. We don’t ever shoot 10 percent in practice. It was just a mental thing for us.”
Saturday, the Lobos — and Best in particular — were more assertive.
Neither Amy Beggin nor Sara Halasz — who both joined Kielpinski and Best in the double-digit scoring category — were reluctant to pull the trigger. Beggin had 14 and Halasz poured in 13 points.
Shooting woes aside, Flanagan said he wasn’t overly concerned about his squad, since it possesses one of the most intangible qualities in basketball.
“They work hard when they lose. They work hard when they win,” he said. “And that’s the characteristics of a good team. They need to keep doing it, because there’s some very fine teams out there.”
