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UNM Women's Basketball: Lobos race past Siena 78-39
Marsh eclipses 1,000 career points in blowout
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For the Lobos, it was a night to celebrate for several reasons.
Dionne Marsh reached an important milestone.
Julie Briody earned praise and an MVP trophy.
Katie Montgomery pulled out of a slump.
Reserves got plenty of time to show their skills.
And they won a game, too.
The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team blazed past Siena for a 78-39 victory Saturday night in The Pit to claim the championship of the UNM Thanksgiving tournament.
“That might be as good a game as we’ve played this year,” UNM coach Don Flanagan said.
Marsh, a junior forward, started the festive night, hitting a free throw with 55.3 seconds left in first half to reach 1,000 career points.
She is the 14th Lobo to join the 1,000-point club and the second-fastest player to do it in school history, trailing former Lobo Allison Foote. Marsh also was the second-fastest player to reach the mark in the seven-year old Mountain West Conference, with former Utah star Kim Smith the only player to hit 1,000 points faster than Marsh.
The milestone was announced while Marsh was attempting a second free throw. The crowd of 8,419 erupted in cheers, but Marsh still managed to hit her next shot.
“It is nice, but I’m more focused on ways that I can help my team,” Marsh said.
UNM used a 13-2 run and another 9-0 run to put the game out of reach early and claim a 40-17 halftime lead.
The Lobos continued to outplay the overmatched Saints in the second half, leading by as many as 41 points late in the game.
Briody, a senior forward, was named the tournament most valuable player. She finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block.
Briody, who used to be benched regularly for playing out of control, did not turn the ball over against Siena.
“Julie’s always been a scorer … but now she’s learning to do it within the framework of the offense,” Flanagan said.
Marsh, who was the other Lobo on the all-tournament team, finished with 16 points, five rebounds, three steals, two assists, one block and one turnover.
Flanagan said Marsh’s effort was more remarkable because she racked up the points going 4-of-6 from field-goal range and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Montgomery, a senior guard, snapped out of a shooting slump and added 11 points, going 3-of-5 from 3-point range.
Montgomery ranked second in 3-point shooting percentage nationally last season, hitting 48 percent of her shots. She was far from last year’s form Friday night, when she went 1-of-9 from beyond the arc.
“My opinion was she was quitting on her shot about halfway through it,” Flanagan said. “You have to finish the shot.”
He said once Montgomery began to struggle, she lost her confidence and wasn’t sure if she really wanted to shoot as the ball left her hand.
Briody said she had several one-on-one talks with Montgomery and never doubted she would regain her touch.
“We knew eventually she’d get out of her mini-slump,” Briody said.
The UNM rout gave Flanagan a chance to go deeper into his bench, giving the reserves at the end of his bench the most playing they had seen all season. With about five minutes left in the game, the Lobos had four freshmen and one sophomore on the floor facing Siena’s starters.
Freshman center Valerie Kast made the most of her time, finishing with eight points, five rebounds and one block in nine minutes.
“Players aren’t going to improve unless they get an opportunity to play a little bit,” Flanagan said. “There was a period of time when they didn’t play too well and there was a point where they did start to play a little bit better. … I’m really happy with the way this whole team tonight.”
