A four-time Mountain West Conference honoree, Adams led the Lobos in scoring (averaging nearly 16 points per game), rebounds (more than 6.0 per game), and blocks (averaging a little more than 2.0 per game). But Adams’ success on the court didn’t always come easy. Everyday life and the challenges of playing the game of basketball can be tough on anyone, especially a student-athlete.
No Longer Just for Me “Learning to deal with different pressures—mostly outside pressures— has been a really big battle for me since high school,” says Adams. “Basketball used to be about a game just for me. That’s kind of bad to say, but that’s just how I played it. It was just me and my team on the floor and I didn’t care about anything else. And now, there seemed to be a lot more added to it. “You have the whole crowd situation, people always watching you, a lot of expectations and dealing with all those kind of pressures. The one thing that I have pulled out of, though, reverting back to high school, is that it’s about me and about the team and nobody else. This year I learned to take things that bothered me and make them better by helping other people. For example, helping the freshmen get acquainted with the situation. It’s hard for them to come into a college atmosphere. I would say nice things to them and make them feel comfortable. I found that helping others on the team helped me feel better. So I was basically helping myself at the same time.”
Motivation Adams is one of five children, four girls and one boy. Playing basketball was her ticket to college. “Coming from a family that didn’t have very much money, my biggest obstacle was to get to college,” says Adams. “My only way to get there was through basketball and my parents sacrificed a lot for that. I played one summer of AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) basketball and that was kind of my way into the whole situation with college.
“My only real motivation was to just be all I can be and to do whatever I can do personally and not try to be somebody else—in all aspects of my life. I’ve always wanted to be an individual and do my own thing.”
Adapting Along the way Adams learned quite a few lessons, both on and off the court. She has always enjoyed solitude. But it is one area of her life where she had to adapt her personality to the situation she faced. It’s a lesson she’ll be able to utilize when her basketball playing days are over. “There are so many lessons I’ve learned,” Adams says. “In the past I’ve been known as a solitary person and for keeping to myself, but I’ve learned to work with people in different ways. In pressure situations you’re always going to be able to use that.”
Moving On Graduating in May with a bachelor of university studies with an emphasis on journalism and athletic coaching, Adams would like to move on to the WNBA, her main focus after school. “I think she is certainly capable of playing at the next level,” says Flanagan. “It depends on how important that goal is to her. I watched her play in the USA Trials and she scored against all the top post players in the nation. Offensively she did very well, but defensively she had problems guarding some of the better players. I do think her defense has improved considerably this year.” “I would love to do that (play in the WNBA),” says Adams. “If not, I think I’ll go overseas and play over there just for the experience. After that, maybe someday I’d like to teach or work in a newsroom. I’d like to teach journalism or maybe physical education. I just want to teach and I’d like to coach too. I love kids.” If Adams turns out to be the same kind of teacher as she is basketball player, then a number of kids will benefit from her life’s lessons.
more
album more marriages Heather Herzog, ’98 BS, and Joshua Spies Julio P. Marchiondo Jr., ’98 MBA, and Nancy Moore April Mokina, ’98 BS, ’01 MS, and Jose Alvarez, ’75 BUS Lora L. Smalley, ’98 BA, and Miles Fisher Antonia Trujillo, ’98 BSED, and Dalon Bynum Meredith N. Ford, ’99 BA, and Mark A. Koski, ’00 BSPE Daniel Puzak, ’99 BAA, ’02 MARC, and Lisa Martinez Tina Waggoner, ’99 BS, and Dale Huber Valerie Marie Barela, ’00 BABA, and Frank Anthony Sedillo, ’82 BABA, ’87 JD Nancy M. Cimermanis, ’00 BUS, and Gary Brault Jon Ryan Courtney, ’00 BA, and Katherine Evita Ortega, ’01 BA Jennifer Kipping, ’00 BS, and David York Samuel Abraham Morrah, ’00 BARC, and Melissa M. Stiles Michelle Lee Negrette, ’00 MCRP, ’01 MLA, and Joshua Andrew Allison Maggie Mae Richardson, ’00 BSNU, and Andrew Thomas Faber, ’96 BA Leona Zamora, ’00 BS, and Kevin Gustafson Venessa De Los Santos, ’01 BABA, and Isaac Jerome Finn, ’01 BABA Elizabeth Marie Johnson, ’01 BSNU, and Robert Guild Brown, ’01 BABA Shannon Nagel, ’01 BS, and Keith Keetso Jr., ’94 BSEE Courtney A. Thompson, ’01 BA, and Eric W. Woods Casey Creel, 02 BUS, and Elizabeth Anderson Robert Nance, ’02 JD, and Kimberly Michelle Schiller Annette Vasquez, ’02 BSNU, and David Aguilar, ’02 BSNU
For final 2003 Lady Lobo results, go to www.unmalumni.com.
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