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Julie Briody, left, hugs teammate Katie Montgomery as the buzzer sounds ending the final round of the Mountain West Conference Women's Basketball Championship Saturday in Las Vegas. The Lobos won 63-49.
Julie Briody, left, hugs teammate Katie Montgomery as the buzzer sounds ending the final round of the Mountain West Conference Women's Basketball Championship Saturday in Las Vegas. The Lobos won 63-49.

Lobos beat BYU to win MWC Tournament

by Steven Fernandez

Daily Lobo

LAS VEGAS - The UNM women's basketball team was not going to watch Brigham Young celebrate another first place.

The Lobos secured their fourth Mountain West Conference Tournament Championship in five years Saturday, defeating the regular season conference champion Cougars 63-49 in Las Vegas.

With the win, No. 3-seeded UNM secured itself a bit to the NCAA Tournament. The Lobos improved their record to 24-8, while BYU dropped to 23-9.

The Lobos are looking forward to the NCAA appearance, but they will put aside time to celebrate the conference championship, senior guard Katie Montgomery said.

"Obviously, we want to get to the NCAA Tournament," she said. "But I think winning the conference championship is just as big a goal. That's what you want to do from the beginning of the season. It's a good feeling."

Although it was the Lobos' third-straight double-digit win in the tournament, the Cougars made it interesting in the second half.

UNM led 27-17 at the half before BYU went on a 20-9 run and took a 37-36 lead with 8:47 left.

The game was tied 42-42 with 6:23 remaining before Dionne Marsh took over for the Lobos, scoring 13 points in the final six minutes. Marsh was called for her fourth foul with about six minutes left but became more aggressive the rest of the way.

She finished with a team-high 20 points, while grabbing five rebounds and four steals, and was named MWC Tournament MVP.

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UNM head coach Don Flanagan said Marsh disagreed with the last foul call, and she took it out on BYU.

"I hate to say this, but Dionne plays better when she's mad," he said. "As soon as she got mad, she got motivated."

Julie Briody scored 14 points in the win and recorded two blocks. Briody was named to the all-tournament team along with Marsh.

Montgomery added 13 points, six rebounds and six assists, while Brandi Kimble recorded 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

With just eight minutes remaining, no UNM player had scored in double figures. The foursome of Marsh, Briody, Montgomery and Kimble then scored the final 24 points for the Lobos.

Montgomery, who led the tournament in assists with an average of 6.3 per game, said the win was special because so many players got involved.

"Brandi had a great tournament," she said. "Timi (E-Nunu) has been playing great defense. I think everybody's real determined, and we're playing well together."

The UNM defense frustrated Cougars' leading scorer Dani Wright, holding her to five points on 2-of-10 shooting before she fouled out with 5:14 remaining.

While BYU was able to have some success in the paint, the Lobo defense was phenomenal on the perimeter.

The Cougars made just two 3-pointers in the game, and UNM scored 20 points off turnovers, with many of those coming off the 10 turnovers that BYU's starting guards committed.

Kimble recorded nine steals in the tournament and was responsible for guarding the opponent's best guard most of the MWC Tournament.

Flanagan said Kimble's play was essential to winning the conference championship.

"I said to Brandi afterward, 'If there was a defensive MVP, you were it,'" he said. "She did a terrific job. She defended the toughest player on every team."

After the Lobos started 0-3 in the MWC regular season, Flanagan had said he wasn't sure if the Lobos would get invited to the NIT Tournament, much less secure a spot in the NCAAs.

The way his squad battled back to win the conference championship is what Flanagan admires most, he said.

"They remind me of a blue-collar team," he said. "It didn't matter what happened the day prior. I'm really proud of what they did and how they approached improving."

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