Hockey temps ice Lobo basketball fans

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The lady Lobos were hot in the Pit Sunday even as fans and players shivered in the frigid basketball arena.

It's pretty easy to find winter coats and sweatshirts used as hand warmers inside the building.

"Right when we went down we were really cold," Lobo point guard Amy Beggin said. "First couple minutes of the game were pretty rough."

Despite the sub-arctic temperatures the Lobos beat the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles 80-64.

UNM's associate athletic director in charge of the $60 million Pit renovation said one of the two heaters broke down.

"Only half of the building was being heated Saturday night up until Sunday morning," Senior Associate Athletic Director Tim Cass told KRQE News 13.

Compounding the problem is an emergency-evacuation plan for the renovation that requires huge doors to remain open during games for a quick escape. Neither fire alarms nor sprinkler systems will be in place for the season.

State Fire Marshal John Standifer ordered safety measures that UNM must use in order to fill the building to capacity during construction.

Fans and players are safe, according to Standifer, who said he has more than 60 crowd managers posted around the arena. They carry two way radios to communicate with fire watchers posted on the mezzanine level who communicate with the people on the public-address system to announce an evacuation.

"I think that you'll find with the safety procedures in place that the attendants this season will be just as safe if not safer as they would be anytime in this building," Standifer said.

And UNM said now that the heater is fixed the arena will not turn into an ice pit again.

"The design is such that even at 10 degrees, zero degrees, we really should be able to warm the building to 70 degrees," Cass said.

UNM also said it'll keep a closer eye on the heaters to make sure what happened Sunday isn't repeated. Additional heaters should be up and running around the concourse in a couple of weeks, according to the university.

The renovation will mean luxury boxes, wider concourses with room for more restrooms and concessions and new locker rooms. The work should be done by the start of next season.