LAS VEGAS — Might it be madness that UNM women’s basketball team’s head coach Don Flanagan loves the month of March?
Maybe, but in getting past sixth-seeded San Diego State 65-57 in the first round of the Mountain West Conference tournament, the Lobos found new life Tuesday — but they might have expended too much energy to secure that second chance.
To pull off the victory, Flanagan said he didn’t want key players to log a lot of minutes. In the end, that’s exactly what happened: The Lobos’ three leading scorers played more than 37 minutes, with guards Jasmine Patterson and Amanda Best playing the entire 40 minutes.
“Amanda did a lot of work,” Flanagan said. “She did a whole bunch of work in that game, although she turned the ball over too many times. At the same time, she was the main person that could bring the ball up. We were having some problems bringing the ball up. For a while there, nobody wanted to bring it up.”
Another thing the Lobos don’t want to bring up: whether their top players are too spent to face No. 3 Wyoming and MWC women’s Player of the Year Aubrey Vandiver.
Rubbery versus rested legs?
Best said she isn’t worried about being gassed against the Cowgirls.
“Jessica (Kielpinski) and I — every game could be our last,” she said. “I know both of us have some energy, and we’ll give it our all. We’re going to take some ice baths tonight, so we’ll be prepared.”
Other than them having to play the entire game, Flanagan said he couldn’t be more content with his seniors’ play, especially Kielpinski who held SDSU’s Paris Johnson to 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting.
“Paris Johnson is a very difficult player to defend,” he said. “I thought she was physical with her, and I thought she did a nice job.”
Kielpinski said she tried to keep the 6-foot-4 Johnson on her toes.
“I think I just was able to play my game,” she said. “Against taller posts, I’m able to play in my comfort zone a lot more easily than a quicker guard or post. I just try to push them out, not let them post up. I guess that’s just the biggest thing. I just hustled, and I played like it could be my last game, and I left it all out on the floor.”
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The problem with leaving it all out on the floor is that this was the Lobos’ first game. To have any shot at the NCAA tournament, they have to win the MWC tournament to secure an automatic bid. That’s three more games.
A quick turnaround, now Flanagan and Co. must find a way to ready themselves for tonight’s quarterfinal date with Wyoming.
Flanagan said they have one thing in their favor: They got MWC tournament jitters out of the way. The third-seeded Cowgirls, meanwhile, had a bye, and UNM will be their first opponent.
“The one thing we have going for us is that … we won and we’re confident,” he said. “We feel better about ourselves. Maybe Wyoming, having not played a game in the tournament, could be a little bit nervous and have some nerves early.”
