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VS. TEXAS-EL PASO: The series between UTEP and UNM has become a frequent one for both opponents. This series started in 1974-75 with 39 games being played. UNM leads the series with 27 wins. Last season the Lobos defeated the Miners in a rather lopsided victory, 87-37.
About UTEP: The Miners have played two games so far this year. UTEP lost to Southwest Texas State, 70-55 on Nov. 16 and lost to UT Pan American 74-59 on Nov. 21. The Miners are being led by Kimya Murray with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Three Miners are averaging double-figures.Probable Starters:Tiffney Touton, G, 5-8, So., Las Vegas, NVKimya Murray, G, 5-6, Jr., Chicago, ILFranki Jimmerson, F, 5-7, Fr., Sulphur Springs, TXKatie Pyle, F, 5-8, Sr., Santa Ynez, CADanielle Brown, F, 5-9, Sr., Cedar Park, TX
Against the WAC: The Lobos have fared pretty well against their former conference. Louisiana Tech is the only member of the WAC that the Lobos have not played. Overall UNM has a 48-23 record.Boise State, 0-1Fresno State, 6-4Hawaii, 5-3Louisiana Tech, never playedRice, 3-1San Jose State, 2-0SMU, 1-2UTEP, 27-12Tulsa, 4-0
HONORS/AWARDS: Jordan Adams was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week, the first for this year and the third in her career. Adams helped the Lobos to a 1-1 record in the Preseason WNIT. In an 81-54 win over Pacific, Adams recorded a single-game WNIT record seven blocks to go along with her first double-double of the season, totaling 21 points and 10 rebounds. Against No. 12 Colorado, Adams picked up 14 points and five blocks. Despite only playing two games, Adams set the WNIT record for blocks in the tournament with 12.
New mexico and the wnit: New Mexico was the host of five post-season WNIT games and two preseason games. This year, UNM defeated Pacific in the preseason WNIT and then lost to Colorado. Last season the Lobos dominated the competition in the first four rounds, winning by an average of 21 ppg and holding opponents to just 33.3% from the field. The Lobos advanced further in postseason play than any other squad in school history. UNM won four games, after having never won more then two and having never advanced past the quarterfinals. Jordan Adams and Chelsea Grear were both named to the WNIT All-Tournament Team. In this years pre-season WNIT the Lobos continued their winning ways as they topped Pacific 81-54. Adams led the team with 21 points and she set a new WNIT record with her seven blocks. The Lobos, as a team, are also WNIT record-setters as their 13 team blocks is a new record.
Head Coach Don Flanagan: Don Flanagan, arguably the greatest womens basketball coach at New Mexico, is entering his seventh season at UNM. Flanagan took over this struggling program in 1995 and the Lobos have improved to a remarkable 122-63 (.516), theyve captured a conference regular-season championship, a conference tournament championship and made four consecutive postseason appearances, including the schools first-ever NCAA bid. Flanagan has already become the schools all-time leader in victories, surpassing Doug Hoseltons previous mark of 89 from 1980-87. Amazingly, Flanagan took just 133 games to reach 90 wins for his career, while Hoselton won 89 in 194 tries. Of course winning is nothing new for Flanagan – in fact he is winning less now than in his previous job as head coach at Albuquerques Eldorado High School, where he compiled an astounding 401-13 record and won 11 state championships in 16 years. Under Flanagan, UNM has become a consistent threat to win the conference title, as the Lobos have finished no worse than third in each of the last four seasons. Flanagans teams have become noted for their stifling defense. New Mexico has finished among the conference leaders in scoring defense in each of the last six years and has consistently ranked in the top 20 in the nation in that category as well. Fan support has been tremendous as a result of the Lobos defense and intense style of play. Last season the Lobos were fifth in the nation in average attendance with 8,712 setting a school record. The Lobos had 16,845 fans witness their loss to Utah on Jan. 7, which at the time was the largest attendance in the nation. UNM also had a crowd of 18,018 at the WNIT Championship game, the third-largest on-campus attendance for the year in the NCAA. In 1999-00, UNM was sixth in the nation with an average attendance of 8,918; in 1994-95, the year before Flanagans arrival, Los Lobos averaged just 397 fans per game.
ITS A BLOCK PARTY: Jordan Adams set a new WNIT record with her seven blocks against Pacific and 13 blocks in the two games. While the Lobos set a new team record with 13. Adams must think seven is her lucky number as that is her career-high for blocks in a game. Adams is the UNM career leader in rejections with 173. She finished last year ranked fifth in the nation in blocked shots. Adams has now had at least one rejection in the last 25 games that shes played. This year shes had 19 blocks in only three games.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Jordan Adams had her first double-double of the year against Pacific with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Adams had three double-doubles last year. Junior Chelsea Grear had her first double-double of the year against interstate rival New Mexico State. Grear had 16 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman Mandi Moore had her first double-double with 15 points and 10 assists. The last time a New Mexico player had 10 or more assists was last season when Nikki Heckroth had 11. Heckroths 11 hand-outs was the first time since 1996 a Lobo player has had double-figure assists.
Returning Numbers: Combined statistics of players returning for the 2001-02 season and the percentage of the 2000-01 totals:Starters3 Points1,395 (58.1)Rebounds652 (47.1)Field Goals498 (60.8)Field Goal Att.1,118 (58.9)Field Goal Pct..4453-point FG92 (47.9)3-point FG Att.295 (49.4)3-point FG Pct..311Free Throws307 (54.0)Free Throw Att.409 (52.1)Free Throw Pct..750Assists269 (45.3)Turnovers325 (52.4)Steals151 (54.7)Blocks129 (77.7)
The mountain West Conference: The newest conference in the nation has quickly emerged as one of the best. The Mountain West Conference, which officially commenced operation on July 1, 1999, sent three football teams to bowl games and won a national championship (womens cross country) in its first year.The MWC was conceived on May 26, 1998, when eight teams announced they were breaking away from the Western Athletic Conference. Those teams Air Force, Brigham Young, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, Utah and Wyoming brought immediate credibility to their new league.Last year, the Lobos finished in a tie for third place. Utah won the regular season title but it was the Colorado State Rams that won the tournament. CSU and Utah both advanced to the NCAA Tournament while UNM, UNLV, BYU and San Diego State played in the WNIT.
NCAA Tournament Hosts: The University of New Mexico will be hosts for the 2002-03 womens west regional. The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight contests were held here in 2000 and the Lobos will play hosts to the 2001-02 mens first and second rounds. The Pit has hosted NCAA Tournament action in 1968, 1978, 1983, 1985, 1992 and 1996. It ws the site of the 1983 Final Four, in which Cinderella North Carolina State upset heavy-favorite Houston at the buzzer to win its second national title. The Tournament returns to Albuquerque again in 2005 for the mens west regional.
MAKE THAT FIVE YEARS IN A ROW: For the fifth straight year the Lobos have had a winning record. Last season was the third time in school history – and the third time in the last four years – the Lobos won at least 20 games in a season. The 22 wins in 2000-01 were the third-highest single-season total in school history. Only the 1997-98 team, which went 26-7, and the 1998-99 squad, which went 24-7, won more games. The Lobos finished 16-5 at home, the second-highest victory total in The Pit in school history.
EXHIBITIONISTS: The Lobos had two preseason exhibition games in 2001-02. The first was against the Houston Flight of the NWBL USA Elite. Many of the players on the Flight roster were former or current WNBA, ABL and international players. The Lobos were able to send the Flight flying by a score of 84-80. Jordan Adams led the Lobos with 24 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks. The Lobos then faced a team from Denmark. UNM was able to handle this team much better than the Flight, as New Mexcio won easily, 85-44. Adams again led all scorers with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.
2000-01 Recap: UNM ended the 2000-01 season with a 22-13 overall record, 8-6 in the Mountain West Conference. The Lobos posted their fifth winning season in a row under head coach Don Flanagan. It marks the fourth time in UNM history the Lobos have strung together at least four winning seasons in consecutive years. The longest streak of consecutive winning seasons is five, occurring from 1975-80. However, with a record of 108-48 over the last four years, UNM posted its best mark over a four-year span. The Lobos also advanced to the Postseason Womens National Invitation Tournament for the third year in a row and participted in a postseason tournament for the fourth consecutive year. In 1998, UNM won an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
THE INVITATIONS IN THE MAIL: Junior Jordan Adams competed for a chance to represent the USA in the World University Games this past summer. Adams spent three days vying for a spot at the olympic headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado. While there she competed against 32 of the nations top womens basketball players. Other schools that sent players to the trials include; Oregon State, Colorado, Ohio State, Stanford, Purdue and Virginia. No other player from the Mountain West Conference was giving an invite to the trials.
RECORD-BREAKERS: Jordan Adams is New Mexicos all-time shot blocker with 185 and she holds several records in season categories. For a season (2000-01) shes currently third in free throws made with 129, shes third with 163 free throws attempted, shes fifth in field goals made with 182 and shes second in points with 509, all of those records came last season. Adams only needs 142 points to become the ninth player in New Mexico history to score 1,000. Last season Jordan scored 509 points and averaged 14.5 points per game.
ITS UP, ItS GOOD: The Lobos have now had 43 games in a row in which theyve hit a three-point bucket. The last drought UNM experienced was against Colorado State on Jan. 29, 2000.
ITS JUST A NUMBER: Ranked teams have continued to baffle the Lobos. UNM is currently 2-12 against opponents that have a number before their name. The last the Lobos defeated a ranked opponent was in 1997-98 when Hawaii was downed by New Mexico 79-65 in the WAC Tournament.
PRESEASON POLLS: Four Mountain West Conference teams appeared in preseason polls to start the 2001-02 season. Colorado State was ranked #24 in the Associated Press poll and Utah was #25th. In the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, CSU was picked 25th while Utah was 24th. UNLV received votes in both polls and BYU received votes in the coaches poll.
RANKING THE MWC: The Mountain West Conference leaped from #12 in the RPI during the 1999-2000 season to #7 in the final 2000-01 RPI. The MWC will play a minimum of 37 nonconference games against the top 10 conferences according to the final 2001 NCAA RPI. The MWC will also play 20 games against 2001 NCAA Tournament teams during the nonconference schedule.
THIS JUST IN: UNM signed a total of three players to national letters of intent during the early signing period. The group includes: Abbie Letz (El Paso, TX), a 61 post who averaged 19 points per game and 8 rebounds at Hanks High School. Letz chose New Mexico over Texas A&M Corpus Christi, North Texas and Southwest Missouri State. Tiana Johnson (Roswell, NM) a 510 post who averages 24 points per game and 9 rebounds at Goddard High School. Tiana chose UNM over Santa Clara and Oral Roberts. Jana Francis (Canadian, TX) a 62 post player who averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds at Canadian High School. Jana chose the Lobos over Rice, Texas Christian, Baylor and Oklahoma state.raged 19 points per game and 8 rebounds at Hanks High School. Letz chose New Mexico over Texas A&M Corpus Christi, North Texas and Southwest Missouri State. Tiana Johnson (Roswell, NM) a 510 post who averages 24 points per game and 9 rebounds at Goddard High School. Tiana chose UNM over Santa Clara and Oral RoberQLobos Break Several Records Enroute to a 98-45 Thumping of Texas-El Paso;zj~2S,D+i/s<>* e`/d`o_`8N`Q5pmbU)ZC0H2&+P’#*kOzP>>vu?0r?Ex7KAld%’ak5Eg”`|;lANO_t3szTqK|.Oe%n>mN&”/d(~Z 2$:dsP&ht/fSzyU s Break Several Records Enroute to a 98-45 Thumping of Texas-El Paso;zj~2S,D+i/s<>* e`/d`o_`8N`Q5pmbU)ZC0H2&+P’#*kOzP>>vu?0r?Ex7KAld%’ak5Eg”`|;lANO_t3szTqK|.Oe%n>mN&”/d(~Z 2$:dsP&ht/fSzyUThe University of New Mexico women’s basketball team had a good Thanksgiving as they cruised to a 98-45 victory over the UTEP Miners.KM* e`/d`o_`8N`Q5pmbU)ZC0H2&+P’#*kOzP>>vu?0r?Ex7KAld%’ak5Eg”`|;lANO_t3szTqK|.Oe%n>mN&”/d(~Z 2$:dsP&ht/fSzyUEl Paso, TX-The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team had a good Thanksgiving as they cruised to a 98-45 victory over the UTEP Miners.
The Lobos held a 52-13 advantage at half-time, the most points scored by the Lobos in one half. UNM held the Miners scoreless for over 14 minutes. UTEP came back, slightly, in the second half when they hit back-to-back three-pointers. The Miners almost tripled their score in the second half as they were managed to score 32.
Chelsea Grear had a career-high 23 points breaking her previous high of 19. Several records were broken or set by UNM, they included: most assists in a game with 25 breaking the previous high of 22, most field goals made in a game with 34 breaking the previous high of 27 and they tied the modern record of most rebounds in a game with 47.
Almost every Lobo player scored at least one basket. Grear led all scorers while Jordan Adams had 12 points and five blocks, Mandi Moore had 10 points and eight assists and Tiffany Scaglione chipped in nine points, going 6-8 from the line.
The Lobos will be back in action on Tuesday against Arizona in The Pit, game time is 7:00 pm.
CLICK ON RELEASE FOR BOX SCOREe in a game with 34 breaking the previous high of 27 and they tied the modern record of most rebounds in a game with 47.
Almost every Lobo player scored at least one basket. Grear led all scorers while Jordan Adams had 12 points and five blocks, Mandi Moore had 10 points and eight assists anCLobos Will Take on the Arizona Wildcats Tonight in The Pitlayer who averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds at Canadian High School. Jana chose the Lobos over Rice, Texas Christian, Baylor and Oklahoma state.
s Will Take on the Arizona Wildcats Tonight in The Pitlayer who averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds at Canadian High School. Jana chose the Lobos over Rice, Texas Christian, Baylor and Oklahoma state.4The Lobos will be matching up against a tough Arizona team tonight in The Pit. The Wildcats are coming into Albuquerque having won three games straight. The Wildcats just defeated defending national champion Notre Dame. UNM had a good Thanksgiving as they defeated the UTEP Miners soundly, 98-45.(2The Lobos will be matching up against a tough Arizona team tonight in The Pit. The Wildcats are coming into Albuquerque having won three games straight. The Wildcats just defeated defending national champion Notre Dame. UNM had a good Thanksgiving as they defeated the UTEP Miners soundly, 98-45.
VS. ARIZONA: The series between these two schools started in 1974-75 and Arizona holds a slight 7-6 lead. The Wildcats had won three in a row until the Lobos defeated Arizona in the 2001 postseason WNIT, 75-62.
About ARIZONA: The Arizona Wildcats are currently 3-0. Arizona has defeated Pepperdine, Ohio State and most recently No. 15 Notre Dame, the defending national champions. This will be the first road trip for Arizona. Four Arizona players are averaging in double-figures.Probable Starters:Krista Warren, F/G, 6-2, Jr., Cloverdale, CA, 10.0 ppg, 9.0 rpgElizabeth Pickney, F, 6-4, Sr., Houston, TX, 21.0 ppg, 7.0 rpgLaKeisha Taylor, C, 6-4, Sr., Houston, TX, 7.0 ppg, 4.3 rpgAimee Grzyb, G, 5-7, So., San Jose, CA, 6.7 ppg, 2.3 rpgJulie Brase, G, 5-10, Jr., Tucson, AZ, 9.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg
Against the PAC-10: The Lobos currently have a 16-19 record against schools in one of the best basketball conferences, the Pac-10. The Lobos have not played against two of the 10 schools.Arizona 7-6Arizona State 6-6California 0-1Oregon 1-2Oregon State 0-3Stanford 0-0UCLA 1-0USC 0-0Washington 1-0Washington State 0-1
HONORS/AWARDS: Jordan Adams was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week, the first for this year and the third in her career. Adams helped the Lobos to a 1-1 record in the Preseason WNIT. In an 81-54 win over Pacific, Adams recorded a single-game WNIT record seven blocks to go along with her first double-double of the season, totaling 21 points and 10 rebounds. Against No. 12 Colorado, Adams picked up 14 points and five blocks. Despite only playing two games, Adams set the WNIT record for blocks in the tournament with 12.
HEAD COACH DON FLANAGAN: Don Flanagan, arguably the greatest women’s basketball coach at New Mexico, is entering his seventh season at UNM. Flanagan took over this struggling program in 1995 and the Lobos have improved to a remarkable 122-63 (.516), they’ve captured a conference regular-season championship, a conference tournament championship and made four consecutive postseason appearances, including the school’s first-ever NCAA bid. Flanagan has already become the school’s all-time leader in victories, surpassing Doug Hoselton’s previous mark of 89 from 1980-87. Amazingly, Flanagan took just 133 games to reach 90 wins for his career, while Hoselton won 89 in 194 tries. Of course winning is nothing new for Flanagan – in fact he is winning less now than in his previous job as head coach at Albuquerques Eldorado High School, where he compiled an astounding 401-13 record and won 11 state championships in 16 years. Under Flanagan, UNM has become a consistent threat to win the conference title, as the Lobos have finished no worse than third in each of the last four seasons. Flanagan’s teams have become noted for their stifling defense. New Mexico has finished among the conference leaders in scoring defense in each of the last six years and has consistently ranked in the top 20 in the nation in that category as well. Fan support has been tremendous as a result of the Lobos’ defense and intense style of play. Last season the Lobos were fifth in the nation in average attendance with 8,712 setting a school record. The Lobos had 16,845 fans witness their loss to Utah on Jan. 7, which at the time was the largest attendance in the nation. UNM also had a crowd of 18,018 at the WNIT Championship game, the third-largest on-campus attendance for the year in the NCAA. In 1999-00, UNM was sixth in the nation with an average attendance of 8,918; in 1994-95, the year before Flanagan’s arrival, Los Lobos averaged just 397 fans per game.
ITS A BLOCK PARTY: Jordan Adams set a new WNIT record with her seven blocks against Pacific and 13 blocks in the two games. The Lobos set a new team record with 13. Adams must think seven is her lucky number as that is her career-high for blocks in a game and she has tied that several times. Adams is the UNM career leader in rejections with 190. She finished last year ranked fifth in the nation in blocked shots. Adams has now had at least one rejection in the last 25 games that shes played. This year shes had 24 blocks in only four games.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Jordan Adams had her first double-double of the year against Pacific with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Adams had three double-doubles last year and has had one this year. Junior Chelsea Grear has now had two double-doubles for the year, against New Mexico State and UTEP. Freshman Mandi Moore had her first double-double with 15 points and 10 assists. The last time a New Mexico player had 10 or more assists was last season when Nikki Heckroth had 11. Heckroths 11 hand-outs was the first time since 1996 a Lobo player has had double-figure assists.
RETURNING NUMBERS: Combined statistics of players returning for the 2001-02 season and the percentage of the 2000-01 totals:Starters3 Points1,395 (58.1)Rebounds652 (47.1)Field Goals498 (60.8)Field Goal Att.1,118 (58.9)Field Goal Pct..4453-point FG92 (47.9)3-point FG Att.295 (49.4)3-point FG Pct..311Free Throws307 (54.0)Free Throw Att.409 (52.1)Free Throw Pct..750Assists269 (45.3)Turnovers325 (52.4)Steals151 (54.7)Blocks129 (77.7)
THE MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE: The newest conference in the nation has quickly emerged as one of the best. The Mountain West Conference, which officially commenced operation on July 1, 1999, sent three football teams to bowl games and won a national championship (women’s cross country) in its first year.The MWC was conceived on May 26, 1998, when eight teams announced they were breaking away from the Western Athletic Conference. Those teams Air Force, Brigham Young, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, Utah and Wyoming brought immediate credibility to their new league.Last year, the Lobos finished in a tie for third place. Utah won the regular season title but it was the Colorado State Rams that won the tournament. CSU and Utah both advanced to the NCAA Tournament while UNM, UNLV, BYU and San Diego State played in the WNIT.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HOSTS: The University of New Mexico will be hosts for the 2002-03 women’s west regional. The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight contests were held here in 2000 and the Lobos will play hosts to the 2001-02 mens first and second rounds. The Pit has hosted NCAA Tournament action in 1968, 1978, 1983, 1985, 1992 and 1996. It ws the site of the 1983 Final Four, in which Cinderella North Carolina State upset heavy-favorite Houston at the buzzer to win its second national title. The Tournament returns to Albuquerque again in 2005 for the mens west regional.
MAKE THAT FIVE YEARS IN A ROW: For the fifth straight year the Lobos have had a winning record. Last season was the third time in school history – and the third time in the last four years – the Lobos won at least 20 games in a season. The 22 wins in 2000-01 were the third-highest single-season total in school history. Only the 1997-98 team, which went 26-7, and the 1998-99 squad, which went 24-7, won more games. The Lobos finished 16-5 at home, the second-highest victory total in The Pit in school history.
EXHIBITIONISTS: The Lobos had two preseason exhibition games in 2001-02. The first was against the Houston Flight of the NWBL USA Elite. Many of the players on the Flight roster were former or current WNBA, ABL and international players. The Lobos were able to send the Flight flying by a score of 84-80. Jordan Adams led the Lobos with 24 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks. The Lobos then faced a team from Denmark. UNM was able to handle this team much better than the Flight, as New Mexcio won easily, 85-44. Adams again led all scorers with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.
2000-01 Recap: UNM ended the 2000-01 season with a 22-13 overall record, 8-6 in the Mountain West Conference. The Lobos posted their fifth winning season in a row under head coach Don Flanagan. It marks the fourth time in UNM history the Lobos have strung together at least four winning seasons in consecutive years. The longest streak of consecutive winning seasons is five, occurring from 1975-80. However, with a record of 108-48 over the last four years, UNM posted its best mark over a four-year span. The Lobos also advanced to the Postseason Womens National Invitation Tournament for the third year in a row and participted in a postseason tournament for the fourth consecutive year. In 1998, UNM won an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
New mexico and the wnit: New Mexico was the host of five post-season WNIT games and two preseason games. This year, UNM defeated Pacific in the preseason WNIT and then lost to Colorado. Last season the Lobos dominated the competition in the first four rounds, winning by an average of 21 ppg and holding opponents to just 33.3% from the field. The Lobos advanced further in postseason play than any other squad in school history. UNM won four games, after having never won more then two and having never advanced past the quarterfinals. Jordan Adams and Chelsea Grear were both named to the WNIT All-Tournament Team. In this years pre-season WNIT the Lobos continued their winning ways as they topped Pacific 81-54. Adams led the team with 21 points and she set a new WNIT record with her seven blocks. The Lobos, as a team, are also WNIT record-setters as their 13 team blocks is a new record.
THE INVITATIONS IN THE MAIL: Junior Jordan Adams competed for a chance to represent the USA in the World University Games this past summer. Adams spent three days vying for a spot at the olympic headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado. While there she competed against 32 of the nations top womens basketball players. Other schools that sent players to the trials include; Oregon State, Colorado, Ohio State, Stanford, Purdue and Virginia. No other player from the Mountain West Conference was giving an invite to the trials.
RECORD-BREAKERS: Jordan Adams is New Mexico’s all-time shot blocker with 190 and she holds several records in season categories. For a season (2000-01) she’s currently third in free throws made with 129, she’s third with 163 free throws attempted, she’s fifth in field goals made with 182 and she’s second in points with 509, all of those records came last season. Adams only needs 92 points to become the ninth player in New Mexico history to score 1,000. Jordan is currently averaging 17.8 ppg and she could possibly get her 1,000th by the middle of December.
ITS UP, ItS GOOD: The Lobos have now had 44 games in a row in which they’ve hit a three-point bucket. The last drought UNM experienced was against Colorado State on Jan. 29, 2000.
ITS JUST A NUMBER: Ranked teams have continued to baffle the Lobos. UNM is currently 2-12 against opponents that have a number before their name. The last the Lobos defeated a ranked opponent was in 1997-98 when Hawaii was downed by New Mexico 79-65 in the WAC Tournament.
PRESEASON POLLS: Four Mountain West Conference teams appeared in preseason polls to start the 2001-02 season. Colorado State was ranked #24 in the Associated Press poll and Utah was #25th. In the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, CSU was picked 25th while Utah was 24th. UNLV received votes in both polls and BYU received votes in the coaches poll.
RANKING THE MWC: The Mountain West Conference leaped from #12 in the RPI during the 1999-2000 season to #7 in the final 2000-01 RPI. The MWC will play a minimum of 37 nonconference games against the top 10 conferences according to the final 2001 NCAA RPI. The MWC will also play 20 games against 2001 NCAA Tournament teams during the nonconference schedule.
THIS JUST IN: UNM signed a total of three players to national letters of intent during the early signing period. The group includes: Abbie Letz (El Paso, TX), a 6’1 post who averaged 19 points per game and 8 rebounds at Hanks High School. Letz chose New Mexico over Texas A&M Corpus Christi, North Texas and Southwest Missouri State. Tiana Johnson (Roswell, NM) a 5’10 post who averages 24 points per game and 9 rebounds at Goddard High School.