by Riley Bauling
Daily Lobo
The UNM women's basketball team started the season 2-0 with a 59-52 win last night at The Pit against the Cal State Fullerton Titans.
The Lobos were led by junior Mandi Moore who had team highs in points with 13, assists with six and rebounds with eight. Junior Lindsey Arndt chipped in 12 points, while transfer-junior Jenny Shetters had eight points.
The Lobos shot just above 34 percent from the field including an abysmal 4-20 from three-point range.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
The Titans came out with tenacity in the first half, jumping out to a 9-2 lead because of tough defense forcing the Lobos into several errant shots.
UNM regained control of the game by working the ball inside to Arndt and Shetters, but had trouble closing out a Cal State Fullerton team that refused to quit. The Lobos had 10-point leads several times in the second half but UNM's lack of offensive production kept the Titans in the game.
Lobo head coach Don Flanagan said his team's complacency led to offensive problems.
"I don't know if we took them lightly, but we sure didn't play up to our potential," he said. "We looked like we were jogging instead of playing basketball and we just didn't run our offense. I'm really disturbed about us not running our offense."
Sophomore Amber Pruitt led the way for the Titans with a game-high 14 points.
Flanagan said that the outcome of the game was not what he expected after UNM's strong win Friday against USC, a squad he said was much better than Cal State Fullerton.
"We should have had somewhere in the 70s while they should have been held in the 40s," he said. "We have people that shoot well in practice but can't make it in the games. Those guys have got to step up or I've got to find replacements for them."
The Titans are now 0-2 after being drummed 81-43 on Friday by the Fordham Rams. They are coming off of a 7-21 season and were picked in the preseason to finish second to last in the Big West Conference.
Although expectations are high because of last season's Sweet 16 appearance, Moore said it is still early and success will come as the season progresses.
"Give us some time," she said. "It's the second game of the season and it is just going to take time to blend in seven new people. It'll come around. We're going to look a lot better. It's all about coming together at the right time."
Flanagan said UNM's performance showed just how far the Lobos have to go to reach their potential.
"I'm not happy with it," he said. "We've got a long ways to go."
Moore said the team has to play with more confidence and intensity if it wants to succeed.
"We need to get excited for the game," she said. "We need some more intensity. We just need to relax and have fun because that is when we play our best basketball."
The Lobos continue the season on Friday at The Pit in the Holiday Inn Mountain View Tournament. They will play Youngstown State with the winner moving on to the championship game on Saturday against either Villanova or Elon University.
