Colorado State's men's basketball team, at 7-25 overall and 0-16 in the Mountain West Conference, was the laughingstock of the MWC last season. "It was a relief it was over," CSU's head coach Tim Miles said. "It was a perfect storm of things going wrong when I took the job.
Scouting reports were rendered useless on Sunday at The Pit when the UNM women's basketball team beat TCU 75-63. Georonika Jackson appeared to be a weak link, according to TCU head coach Jeff Mittie. But Jackson made the Horned Frogs look foolish. On Sunday, she dictated the game.
Change hit the UNM football team like a tidal wave in the form of a new coach after the Lobos went 4-8. Now, head coach Mike Locksley has finalized his coaching staff. And, including Locksley, "Ocean's Eleven" it is. Locksley announced his 10 hires in a news conference Friday at the Tow Diehm Athletics Center - and much like the cast of the movie, there is a collection of youth meshed with a pedigree of experience.
After a close loss to LSU last week, the No. 49 UNM women's tennis team rebounded to defeat No. 43 South Florida 4-3 on Saturday at the UNM Tennis Complex. "We knew coming in that this was an important match for us," head coach Kathy Kolankiewicz said. "We had the home-field advantage because of our high altitude and really believed that we could capitalize on the opportunity.
The UNM men's tennis team opened its season with a pair of wins this weekend. The 42nd-ranked Lobos toppled No. 44 Indiana in a 4-3 nailbiter Friday before dismantling No. 75 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4-2 on Sunday at the UNM Tennis Complex. With the wins, the Lobos are off to a 2-0 start to the 2009 season.
The UNM indoor track team put in a full day's work on Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center, wrangling two school records and four first-place finishes during the Cherry and Silver Invitational. "I think it was a great day, but a long day," head coach Joe Franklin said.
The UNM women's basketball team whipped itself back into winning form Sunday at The Pit with a 75-63 victory over Mountain West Conference foe TCU. The win propelled the Lobos to 12-1 at home on the season and boosted the team to 4-1 in MWC play after a disappointing offensive output against San Diego State on Wednesday.
Swimming and diving is much like mythology. Half the events that comprise the sport - especially diving - seem unimaginably impossible, almost dream-like. Seeing them executed to precision is even more baffling. Divers must be as eloquent as a swan but have the grit and fearlessness of a great white shark.
The UNM men's tennis team has big shoes to fill in 2009. Last year, the Lobos finished with a spring record of 20-9 - the most wins for the program in 20 years - and a share of the Mountain West Conference regular-season title. Entering this season, the Lobos are ranked 42nd in preseason Intercollegiate Tennis Association polls.
Nobody likes to audition to have their damning ghosts exposed in the public sphere any day - let alone every day. But every game the UNM women's basketball team plays is an audition. And here's what the Lobos put on exhibition on Wednesday against San Diego State: With the Lobos down 56-52, Amy Beggin whittled her way into the lane and drew a foul.
Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good; sometimes it's better to be good than lucky. And sometimes it's best to be lucky and good. With The Pit stuffed with 15,277 fans, the UNM men's basketball team was good enough, and fortunate enough - as in Fortune 500 fortunate - to ring up an 81-62 win over BYU on Saturday.
It was lucky No. 7 for the Lobos and senior Daniel Faris at The Pit on Saturday. UNM secured its first win, 81-62, in seven tries over the David Rose-led BYU Cougars. And Faris scored the first seven points of the game against conference rival BYU to give UNM a quick 7-3 lead in a game the Lobos would ultimately win.
Divide and conquer. The UNM men's basketball team conquered Mountain West Conference-kingpin BYU 81-62 on Saturday, and on Wednesday, the Lobos will look to divide the 12-4 Aztecs from Spain - Kyle Spain (14.9 points per game), that is. "This is our first big road trip," head coach Steve Alford said.
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.
Decked out in its royal blue uniforms, Air Force came into Saturday's contest against the UNM men's basketball team as the Mountain West Conference's "Blue Bombers." The Falcons entered The Pit as the third-ranked 3-point-shooting team in the nation, stroking 42.
Even the Michelin Man couldn't have prevented this blowout. On Saturday, the final score from Colorado, Springs, was 73-39 in favor of the UNM women's basketball team over Air Force. The UNM women's basketball team bullied resident Mountain West Conference foe Air Force, and everybody on the Lobos took their hacks.
Jonathan Wills sat patiently on the bench Saturday against Air Force at The Pit. And then, Dairese Gary got into foul trouble, and Nate Garth checked into the scorer's table but picked up two fouls after only 1:01. Seconds later, Steve Alford motioned for and handed the point-guard reins to Wills.
From turmoil to stability, Amanda Adamson's odd 10-point, 20-rebound performance on Saturday against Texas Tech is emblematic of what she's experienced in the past. In one word, her basketball career has been peculiar. Keith Cieplicki, who recruited Adamson to play for Syracuse, resigned in June 2006 after a short and tumultuous tenure with the Orange.
Triple-doubles are rare events that deserve celebratatory champagne - if the player is of age. This triple-double, however, will likely be forgettable for UNLV's Shamela Hapton, as it was one of the wrong sort. "I thought we did a pretty good job on Hampton - bothering her with the double team," head coach Don Flanagan said.
Solutions by The State News
