Albuquerque, N.M. » It has been more than a week since New Mexico soccer player Elizabeth Lambert's kicking, punching and hair-pulling tirade against Brigham Young players became the latest YouTube sensation.

Video clips of Lambert pulling BYU's Kassidy Shumway's ponytail and snapping her head back violently have been shown on worldwide TV, and almost daily in the United States by shows including "Good Morning, America," the "Late Show with David Letterman," "The O'Reilly Factor" and the "Today Show."

But while Lambert's classmates and New Mexico community members continue to express outrage, shame and disappointment over what they say is another black eye for a school that has had more than its share the past year, school officials are staying silent on the matter.

Although she apparently spoke briefly to USA Today , New Mexico coach Kit Vela, along with her players and UNM athletic director Paul Krebs, have declined interview requests, through athletics department spokesman Greg Remington.

A spokesperson from school president David Schmidly's office said he isn't talking about it either, despite a formal request not only from The Salt Lake Tribune but from The New York Times , ABC News and several other national media outlets.

Meanwhile, the nation continues to not only debate the sportsmanship, fair play and gender issues that Lambert's actions sparked, but to poke fun. NBC's Jay Leno targeted the "Loco Lobo" and her seven deadly fouls as recently as Thursday night on network television and Letterman works it into his famous Top Ten list nightly.

Still, nothing from UNM officials, other than the news release the day Lambert's foul play went viral, saying the junior from Lancaster, Calif., had been "suspended indefinitely." It included statements from Krebs and Vela regarding the inappropriateness of Lambert's play and Krebs' statement that "there is no way to defend her actions."

Krebs did not even mention it in his weekly radio show Wednesday night. And Friday at least one of Lambert's former teammates, Shannon Adragna, was so tired of the school's "no-defense" plan she took it upon herself to speak up for the defender.

Lambert "is a compassionate, kind and good person ... and the [media] portrayal is in no way indicative of her character or [the character of] our program," Adragna wrote in a letter to the editor that was published on the front page of the Albuquerque Journal 's sports section. Around the New Mexico campus this week, every student had an opinion not only on Lambert's acts of rage, but the silence from school leaders.

"We're getting a lot of bad publicity again, and it is just sickening. But nobody around here seems to be doing anything about it," Deborah Stephens, a junior accounting major from Albuquerque, said as she collected funds in the school's Student Union building Thursday so less fortunate students could afford meals. "Actually, it is kind of ridiculous."

She was alluding not only to the lampooning of Lambert, but the antics of UNM's new winless football coach, Mike Locksley, who has brought the school more unwanted attention. He was charged with sexual harassment by a former UNM employee last spring (the case has been resolved) and allegedly punched an assistant coach during a heated meeting early in the football season, an incident for which he was suspended 10 days.

Lost in the furor -- and exacerbated by school officials' refusal to speak about the player or make Lambert available for interviews -- are the questions on everyone's mind: Who is Elizabeth Lambert? And why did she suddenly turn into a thug on the pitch, after going virtually the entire season without a yellow card, only to get three in the last three games?

"Everyone that knows Elizabeth Lambert has mostly been mum on the whole incident," said Isaac Avilucea, sports editor of the campus newspaper, the Daily Lobo , who wrote a scathing column blaming Vela for the incident, and facetiously thanking her for "your part in making the UNM women's soccer team look like a bunch of ragamuffin delinquents."

Said Avilucea: "For the most part, people have been silent for what I imagine is the fear of retaliation."

Indeed, a female student wearing Lobos soccer apparel just outside the school's Johnson Center recreational complex acknowledged she is on the team, but declined to give her name when asked about Lambert.

"I will tell you this: She's not nearly the devil she is being portrayed to be," said the player. Two of the dozen or so students who spoke to The Tribune , nursing major Skyler Will and emergency medicine major Alex McCash, said they don't condone their classmate's actions, but noted that BYU players share some blame.

"BYU's team was doing some cheap stuff, too," McCash said.

Will said he doesn't know Lambert, but knows some players who described her as "having kind of a short temper, probably the shortest on the team. She doesn't take sh-- from anybody."

Avilucea said prior to the BYU game, the program prided itself on being the most physical in the conference. Vela described her whole team as "fiery" before the MWC semifinal game. New Mexico's players received 17 yellow cards this season, while its opponents in games against the Lobos had five.

And the school's news release on its Web site after BYU's 1-0 win said the Lobos were going "punch-for-punch" with the Cougars in the contest and quoted Vela as saying, "I think that we dished out everything that we were getting."

It has since been changed to read "stride-for-stride" and Vela's comments have been removed. Gone, too, is biographical information regarding Lambert's high school (Paraclete High) and hometown.

Avilucea, the sports editor, said that after a game against Tulsa earlier this season in which 29 fouls were issued, Vela was asked about the rough nature of the game, and responded that "it wasn't really one of our most physical games; it wasn't physical at all."

Summing up the mood of the campus over the incident, Avilucea said, "For the most part, people have been outraged. ... A lot of people think the behavior was disgraceful and an overt display of thuggery."

drew@sltrib.com