Lobos' Abdurraqib is ready to take down the Wildcats
Laila Abdurraqib was grounded for much of the summer. She鈥檚 been learning on the fly ever since.
Abdurraqib, a 5-foot-6 freshman guard for the UNM women鈥檚 basketball team, is playing extended and sometimes key minutes in her first season of college competition. She hit a tying 3-pointer with 2:58 left in the Lobos鈥� most recent game against Cincinnati and trails only Nayli Padilla for the team lead in made 3鈥檚.
Padilla has knocked down 22 3-pointers, while Abdurraqib and Destinee Hooks have 15 apiece.
Perhaps more significant, Abdurraqib ranks fifth on the team in minutes played (161) and has settled into coach Mike Bradbury鈥檚 regular rotation. Not bad for a freshman who spent most of her first summer in Albuquerque watching practice from the sidelines and nursing a gimpy knee.
鈥淪he鈥檚 come a long way in a short time,鈥� Bradbury said. 鈥淪o far, so good.鈥�
Abdurraqib (pronounced ab-DUR-a-keeb) figures to be among the first players off the bench Sunday when the 6-3 Lobos visit 6-1 Arizona for a 2 p.m. tip. Asked how she feels about her sizeable role, Abdurraqib couldn鈥檛 help but smile.
鈥淏lessed obviously,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 missed a lot of time in the summer because of my knee and it鈥檚 taken me a long time to get adjusted to what we do here. Fortunately, the coaching staff and my teammates have been patient and are making it a lot easier for me. I鈥檓 really enjoying playing here. It鈥檚 fun.鈥�
An Indianapolis native, Abdurraqib has quickly won over fans and teammates with her positive, confident demeanor. She鈥檚 held her own at point guard with 14 assists compared to 11 turnovers and provides an effective weapon from the 3-point arc, where she鈥檚 15 for 39 (38.5%) this season.
鈥淟aila鈥檚 smart. She can run the team and she can obviously shoot the ball,鈥� Bradbury said. 鈥淪he played at a high level before she came here, so she鈥檚 not intimidated. She just needs to keep working, getting more familiar with our system and learning from her mistakes.鈥�
Abdurraqib says she鈥檚 generally happy with her play thus far 鈥� but far from satisfied. She spends extra time watching video with Bradbury each week to break down those mistakes.
鈥淚 always want to strive for greatness,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o when I鈥檓 not great, I want to work that much harder.鈥�
What aspect of Abdurraqib鈥檚 game needs the most work?
鈥淒efense,鈥� she responded. 鈥淲e鈥檙e taught to force people to the middle and not give up baseline. My worst thing is giving up baseline. That鈥檚 what I鈥檝e been focused on, just working on my footwork and trying to get better.鈥�
Having an ability to break down video and analyzing gameplans may pay off for Abdurraqib even after her playing days. She hopes to go into sports journalism and has no trouble seeing herself succeeding in that arena.
鈥淚 really want to get in the media side of things and get on TV,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 feel like I鈥檝e got the personality to do that. I really want to write as well, though, so some kind of mixture of the two.鈥�
For the moment, however, Abdurraqib is focused on facing Arizona. She has a friend and former high school opponent on the Wildcats roster in junior Tanyuel Welch and is looking forward to Sunday鈥檚 matchup.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e fast,鈥� Abdurraqib said of the Wildcats. 鈥淭hey push the tempo a lot and we do too, so I feel like this should be a good game for us, lots of transition.鈥�
Abdurraqib believes UNM has made progress through its first nine games, but with just two more games 鈥� both against Big 12 foes 鈥� left before conference play tips off, she knows crunch time is fast approaching.
鈥淗onestly, I think we just need to find ourselves,鈥� she said. 鈥淧laying these Big 12 teams and going into conference is a different level of basketball. With conference teams, (Bradbury) has been studying them for as long as he鈥檚 been here, so we鈥檒l have a strong idea of what we need to do. But with Arizona and Houston, I think we just need to come together. We need to be at our best.鈥�
