Lobo women’s basketball picked fifth in MW; Nunn named Preseason All-MW

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Mountain West released its annual predicted order of finish and preseason all-conference team for the upcoming 2018-19 women’s basketball season on Thursday. In the release, the University of New Mexico was picked to finish fifth in the league, and senior center Jaisa Nunn was tabbed to the preseason All-Mountain West Team.
 OFFICIAL MW RELEASE

The MW’s preseason predicted order of finish, all-conference team and individual honors were voted on by a panel of the Conference’s 11 head coaches and select women’s basketball media from around the league.
 
The Lobos’ fifth-place prediction places UNM behind Boise State, UNLV, Fresno State, and Wyoming. Boise topped the preseason standings with 19 first-place votes and 229 total points. UNLV was second with four first-place votes and 208 total points. Third-place Fresno garnered 175 points while Wyoming was just eight points ahead of UNM’s total with 158 to their credit.
 
Last season, the Lobos finished the year 25-11 and were 10-8 in MW play. The 20+-win campaign was the second time in the last nine years that a UNM women’s basketball team won at least 20 games and the 25 wins tied for the second-most wins in a season in program history. The Lobos also made a return appearance in the WNIT for the first time since 2010.
 
This year, the Lobos return seven players from a year ago with preseason All-Mountain West pick Jaisa Nunn as the lone returning starter. Nunn has also received preseason acclaim nationally as one of 20 on the watch list for the 2019 Lisa Leslie Award for the best center in NCAA DI women’s basketball.
  
Nunn’s inclusion on the preseason all-conference team comes in response to her sensational junior season. After leading the team and ranking second in the Mountain West in scoring at 17.0 ppg, Nunn was a 2017-18 All-Mountain West selection. She also led the team and Mountain West in rebounding at 10.2 per game. A near automatic double-double machine, Nunn recorded 19 such games on the year to help her average a double-double for the season and become the only one in the Mountain West to average a double-double in 2017-18.
 
Three of Nunn’s double-double efforts were 30-point double-doubles as she had 39 points and 13 rebounds vs. No. 16 Marquette, and a pair of the aforementioned double-doubles against San Jose State with a 31-point, 10-rebound game and a 30-point, 11-rebound game against the Spartans.
 
Towards the end of her junior season, Nunn became the 22nd player in UNM Women’s Basketball history to score over 1,000 career points as she achieved that feat in a 93-73 win over Rice in the WNIT (3/20/18). Nunn is also one of 16 players at UNM to have over 1,000 career points and over 500 career rebounds.
 
Her sensational junior campaign saw Nunn establish new program single-season records for Field Goal Percentage as she shot an impressively efficient 63.7% (221-of-347) overall from the floor. Additionally, she registered new program records within conference play for Points Scored (330), Field Goals Made (121), Field Goal Percentage (62.1%), and Free Throws Made (87).
 

                
2018-19 MW PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Riley Lupfer, Jr., G, Boise State
Marta Hermida, Sr., G, Boise State
Candice White, Sr., G, Fresno State
Jaisa Nunn, Sr., C, New Mexico 
Katie Powell, Sr., F/C, UNLV
 
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Riley Lupfer, Jr., G, Boise State
 
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Jade Loville, G, Boise State
 
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Mollie Mounsey, Jr., G, Colorado State