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*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*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 [?]

No sneak peeks at Saturday's looming showdown against 18th-ranked Utah.

The University of New Mexico women's basketball team must try to focus its full attention on these Air Force Falcons.

Seriously, no peeking.

"I don't think they are looking at Utah," said UNM coach Don Flanagan said of his players. "We still have a game to play."

Remember, the Falcons are a team to be taken seriously.

Sure, the Lobos beat them 75-45 on Jan. 19 on the Falcons' home court.

And yeah, the Lobos have won 22 straight over the Falcons dating back to 10,000 B.C., or close to it.

Still, the Falcons are a scrappy bunch. They play hard. They have some talent. They beat CSU and UNLV. They wear cool uniforms (not the basketball ones).

They pester like flies at a barbecue.

OK. . . no more faking this. . .

Chalk up a `W' tonight and bring on the Utes.

UNM (13-11, 5-6 in MWC) should make it 23 straight over Air Force (8-15, 2-9) without much trouble. The Falcons can't match UNM's height and don't have an answer for Lobos senior Dionne Marsh.

The Lobos could use a romp over the Falcons to prep for a Pit-hungry feast of Utes.

UNM desperately needs a marquee victory to validate its postseason hopes.

The Lobos have competed well against the top teams in the MWC - they just haven't beaten any of them. They are coming off a disappointing 59-51 overtime loss to second-place TCU on Sunday at Fort Worth in a game UNM let slip away in the second half.

"We're not out of it," said senior guard Brandi Kimble. "We've got to learn to finish games off. We can do this."

By "this," Kimble meant, contend for the MWC tournament title and accompanying NCAA berth in March.

The Lobos have put themselves into a position where they have to win the league tourney to make the NCAA. They also have to string together some wins to have hopes for the WNIT.

The Lobos certainly can't afford an embarrassing slip tonight against the Falcons. A win over Utah (21-3, 10-0) would go a long way to impress NCAA or WNIT folks, too.

But then, we're not supposed to talk about Utah yet.

The schedule says Air Force must be vanquished first.

But if you want to give in to the temptation - look ahead to Utah - don't say you weren't warned.