by Ken Sickenger Journal Staff Writer , Albuquerque Journal

Amy Beggin, the starting point guard for the University of New Mexico women's basketball team, will undergo arthroscopic surgery on Thursday to correct a left ankle injury suffered last season.

Beggin, who led the Lobos in scoring (15.4 ppg), assists (3.75) and steals (1.8) as a junior last season, said she first injured the ankle Jan. 28 at Colorado State.

She continued to play and would ultimately set a UNM single-season record for minutes played (1,266). Beggin averaged a team-high 36.2 minutes per game.

"At first it was just a sprain," Beggin said Tuesday, "and then I guess a ligament tore."

Beggin said she never considered sitting out with the injury, though it became increasingly painful during the Lobos' fourgame run in the postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament. Beggin didn't even talk about the injury until after the season.

"She did a pretty good job of hiding it," UNM coach Don Flanagan said. "The first time she told me anything was in May - after I saw her with ice on her ankle."

Beggin has been wearing a protective boot for the past six weeks and had hoped to avoid surgery. A follow-up visit to her doctor last week suggested surgery as the best option.

"They told me the ligament healed but it was elongated," Beggin said. "I guess the best thing is to go in, clean things up and be ready for the season."

Beggin said her expected recovery time will be around four weeks.

"It was never really too bad, just sore," Beggin said. "I am getting tired of limping, though, and I want to be 100 percent for my senior year."

PRESEASON WNIT: The Lobos will open the 2009-2010 season just as they finished the last campaign - in the WNIT.

The 16 -team lineup for the preseason WNIT was announced Tuesday and includes UNM opening at home against Northern Colorado on Nov. 13.

UNC has all five starters back from a team that went 12-18 last season. New Mexico finished 25-11 in 2008-09.

"I'm happy we're playing at the Pit and happy to be back in the tournament," Flanagan said. "I don't know much about the opponent yet, but I think playing in the postseason WNIT was a positive for us and this will be, too."

The preseason WNIT bracket includes 11 teams that advanced to postseason play in 2008-09. Four competed in the NCAA Tournament: Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Marist and North Carolina A&T. UNM, Arkansas-Little Rock, Bowling Green, Florida Gulf Coast, Oklahoma State, West Virginia and Winthrop played in the postseason WNIT.

The remaining five teams in the preseason field are Chicago State, Eastern Illinois, Northern Colorado, Towson and UTEP.

"It looks like a strong field," Flanagan said. "There are a lot of teams like us, who have a lot of players coming back and postseason experience. We'll have to be tournamentready."

The preseason WNIT guarantees participants at least three games. Teams advancing to the championship will play four.

Winning teams will advance in bracket play with all games hosted by participating schools. Second-round, semifinal and championship game times and sites will be announced at the end of preceding rounds.

Teams losing in the first or second rounds will meet in consolation games to fill their three-game quotas.

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