For the UNM women’s basketball team, this season has been uneasy and maybe a little nauseating.
The Lobos have lost seven of their past eight games and are 0-3 in the Mountain West Conference. Returning home after a two-game road trip, the Lobos will host Utah.
Known for his honesty, head coach Don Flanagan said his team is discouraged.
“My main thing is we don’t want to lose confidence,” he said. “We’ve had some games or at least one game where I thought we played well and did win. Two games, we got out-executed, and one game we got out-hustled.”
Much like the Lobos, the Utes are youthful. Utah only has three upperclassmen on its roster and is lead by Janita Badon. The point guard has averaged nearly six assists per game.
Iwalani Rodrigues is the team’s leading scorer with 14.7 points per game, followed by Michelle Plouffe, who is a close second with 13.5 points per contest.
Making matters worse, the Utes have beaten the Lobos on a regular basis over the last couple seasons.
The Utes have a commanding lead over the Lobos, with an all-time record advantage of 50-18. Utah has also won the past eight games since January 2008, and the Utes won all three matchups last season, including a win in the MWC Tournament quarterfinals.
“We used to beat them on a regular basis,” Flanagan said. “It’s kind of frustrating, and all of those games were pretty darn close, and almost all of them have come down to one possession.
So, that is just something that just may swing back our way.”
During UNM’s three-point loss to San Diego State on Saturday, center Jessica Kielpinski grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds.
Owning a 6-9 record, Kielpinski said UNM isn’t happy with how the season has unfolded.
“Anybody who is on a losing streak, you’re just not happy,” she said. “There are more problems, but we just need to stay positive and that’s the only way we’re going to get out of this. Because if we’re not positive, it’s just going to keep going downhill.”
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Still, Flanagan said he hasn’t hit the panic button just yet.
