RELATED STORIES

• UNM Women's Basketball: $1 hot dogs lure fans to rivalry at The Pit

More LoboZone

• Richard Stevens: Faces I'll remember are the smallest ones
• Michael Garcia: Here's to you, athletes, coaches and friends. These memories - and lessons - will last forever.
• Tribune sports: Five faves

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Albuquerque Old Town
• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

University of New Mexico junior forward Dionne Marsh has a Bruce Banner temper, with the incredible Hulk simmering beneath the surface.

Marsh usually is mild mannered and soft spoken, but she turns into an unstoppable scoring beast the moment she gets upset.

If she senses opponents are getting an unfair advantage and officials let her get beat up, Marsh makes them pay.

"You know, sometimes she gets a little complacent, and she doesn't want to fight the double team unless she gets mad," UNM coach Don Flanagan said. ". . . I like to see her mad because that's when she plays well. So at halftime, I try to make her mad."

Regardless of what opponents have thrown her way, Marsh has molded herself into UNM's most prolific scorer.

She hit a free throw with 55.3 seconds left in the first half during UNM's 78-39 rout of Siena Saturday night in The Pit to reach 1,000 career points.

Marsh became the 14th Lobo to join the 1,000-point club and was the second-fastest player in school history to do it, trailing former honorable mention All-American Allison Foote. Marsh also became the second-fastest player to reach 1,000 points in the seven-year history of the Mountain West Conference, sliding in behind former Utah star Kim Smith.

It's one of a growing list of accolades for Marsh, who still seems a little startled by the spotlight.

"It's nice, but it's definitely not what I expected when I came here," she said. "I was just looking for a school with an established program where I could play a little bit. I'm happy about being a scorer for the team. I work hard to keep improving and to be more of a leader. It's something that coach Flanagan takes seriously and won't let me take for granted."

Marsh has worked her way to 1,006 points in 70 games by shaking off those double teams with remarkable leaping ability, shooting accurately near the basket with both hands and drawing fouls.

She set a school record for most free-throw attempts (228) and free-throws made (165) last season.

Her temper has come in handy as she became the Lobos' go-to scorer. Rather than folding under the pressure, she fights back with improbable buckets.

"I do get a little upset when people are hanging all over me and think they can get away with pushing me around," she said. "The best way to get back at them is to find a way to score."

Flanagan said he tempers his praise for Marsh because he wants to see her keep improving, maximizing her potential.

Marsh said she agrees with her coach that she needs to keep progressing.

"I want to work on my free-throw shooting so that I'm more consistent, my rebounding and my defense," she said. "Those are the things we're going to need to beat some of the tougher teams on our schedule and do well in conference."

If she maintains her pace, Marsh could become UNM's all-time leading scorer and an All-American.

But Marsh has different goals in mind.

"Last year we won one game in the NCAA Tournament, and this year we want to win more," she said. "We want to beat more nationally ranked teams so that people recognize we are a strong and successful program.

"It doesn't feel very good to score a lot of points when we lose. It feels the best when we win."