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Eastern New Mexico women's basketball coach Linden Weese sounded more like Woody Allen than John Wooden when talking about the goal for his team against the Lobos.

"Survive," Weese said.

Weese parlayed a bit of comic relief seemingly to keep from contemplating the task of his Division-II Zias, a team made up of 12 freshman and one senior among its 17 players.

ENMU visits the University of New Mexico for a Sunday matinee in The Pit.

"I just want to make sure we get everyone back on the bus after the game," Weese joked.

(Cue the laughter sign.)

In a more Woodenesque moment, Weese went on to explain: "It's no secret we're gonna be outmanned, outsized and outgunned."

The roles were reversed for the Lobos in their first exhibition game, a 67-61 setback against a bigger, more experienced and more cohesive Chinese National Team on Thursday night in The Pit.

The loss snapped an 18-game winning streak in exhibition games for UNM under head coach Don Flanagan.

On Sunday, the Lobos, led by All-America candidate Dionne Marsh, are expected to play the role of Pit bully.

Weese scouted the Lobos in their exhibition loss, and he was impressed nonetheless.

"They looked pretty dang good for their first game," Weese said, before rationalizing why facing the Lobos in the Zias' first game is a good thing.

"I wanted to get my inexperienced girls into a dogfight early," he said. "They need to understand what college basketball is all about.

"What better way than to bring them into The Pit against a major college team the quality of New Mexico?"

At least the Zias will have one advantage most foes don't enjoy: Part of The Pit will be cheering for the enemy.

Three Zias hail from the Albuquerque area, including former Cibola standout Kara Bible, a 6-foot-3 freshman center who will be in ENMU's starting lineup. Also, Zias' 6-foot freshman forward Taylor Sauer (Hope Christian) and 6-0 guard/forward Clarissa Krum (Los Lunas) expect to have friends and family on hand for Sunday's game.

"I think the whole town of Los Lunas is coming," Krum said, exaggerating, but only a bit. "It's going to be exciting to be able to play in front of my family and some of the girls I taught coming up."

Sauer is familiar with playing in The Pit, having helped the Hope Huskies win the Class 3A state title in March. The Huskies also finished runner-up at state in her sophomore and junior years.

Sauer said her coach and former teammates will be in the stands rooting for her.

"I grew up watching the Lobos, and I know what an honor it is to play in The Pit," Sauer said. "I can't believe I played my last high school game and (I'm going to play) my first college game in the same place."

Sauer said she attended many of Flanagan's summer camps at UNM and learned from ex-Lobos such as Mandi Moore, Lindsey Arndt and Abbie Letz.

"I'm really excited to see how I do," Sauer said. "I've watched Dionne (Marsh) a lot - she's a great player - and now I'm going to be playing against her."

Sauer acknowledged the Zias are heavy underdogs but won't concede an easy win for the Lobos.

"We're going to play hard, and we're not going to back down," she said. "We're a tough bunch of girls on this team. We respect the Lobos, but we're not afraid."