Five Lobos Selected for MW All-Conference Honors
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Five Lobo women’s basketball players were selected for Mountain West All-Conference awards, as announced by the conference on Sunday, including a conference-high three on the all-conference team.
Jaedyn De La Cerda, Antonia Anderson and Shaiquel McGruder were chosen by the conference coaches to the all-conference team, while LaTora Duff was honorable mention, McGruder was named to the all-defensive team and Paula Reus was voted to the all-freshman team.
It is the second all-conference selection for De La Cerda and Anderson and the second selection to the all-defensive team for McGruder, and the first all-conference selection for McGruder. Duff’s honorable mention marks the first conference award for the Lobo point guard
De La Cerda was nearly unstoppable during conference season, and her performance only got stronger as the season progressed. The Roswell, N.M., native scored in double figures in 14 games, including 8 of the last 9 games and had four games of 20-plus points, including three times in the last four games of conference play. De La Cerda made at least one three-pointer in every conference game with multiple 3-pointers in 10 games and a season-high seven against Utah State (went 7-11, 63.6%). Further, she led the Lobos in scoring in four games, tied for the team high in one game and led the team in assists in eight games. The super senior led the Lobos in points (272) and points per game and was second on the team in made three-pointers and assists.
Among the conference players, De La Cerda finished in the top-10 in MW rankings in six categories: fourth in field-goal percentage (45.5%), fifth in assists per game (4.4), fifth in the most made three-pointers (38), sixth in three-pointers made per game (2.1), seventh in assist/turnover ratio and ninth in the MW in scoring (15.1). Beyond her offensive, she also had at least one steal in 11 games and multiple steals in a game seven times. She was also named MW Player of the Week twice, earning that accolade for the first time in her career.
Anderson also made the most of her super senior season, scoring in double figures in 10 games, with four 20-plus point games and two 30-plus point games, while also recording three double-doubles. The Texas native scored a career-high 33 points at Colorado State, tied for the most points scored by a player in the MW this season and had a conference-leading eight three-pointers in the game. Her seven three-pointers were tied for the second-most by a MW player this season, joined by fellow Lobos De La Cerda and LaTascya Duff. The forward led the Lobos in scoring in five games and was the leading rebounder in seven games.
Defensively, Anderson was also an impact player, recording a block in 11 games with seven games with multiple blocks that included one game with five blocks and one game with four blocks. The five blocks were tied for the most by a player in the MW (the other was McGruder). Further, in 14 games, Anderson was credited with at least one steal with 10 games with multiple steals that included two games with five steals. Anderson ultimately led the Lobos in steals with 31 in conference games.
Anderson was an all-around player, finishing in the top-20 in scoring (14th) and rebounding (17th), top-10 in three-pointers made per game (10th) and made three-pointers and top-5 in blocks and steals. She finished third in the conference in blocked shots per game (1.4) with the third-most blocks (25) and fifth in the conference in steals per game (1.7). Like De La Cerda, Anderson was also named MW Player of the Week for the first time in her career this season.
McGruder earned her first all-conference honor as another all-around player that was an impact player on both ends of the floor as well as in transition. McGruder scored in double figures in 13 games, including four of last five games, finishing with two games of 20-plus points. The senior finished with three double-doubles and three games with 10 or more rebounds, leading the team in rebounds.
For much of the conference season, and at the conclusion of the conference season, McGruder led the conference in blocked shots (30), blocked shots per game (1.7) and field-goal percentage (61.1%).
The Ohio native recorded a block in 13 conference games with eight games with multiple blocks and six games with three or more blocks, one game with four blocks and one game with five blocks. As aforementioned, the five blocks tied for the most by a player in the MW. Further, she recorded at least one steal in 13 games, had 10 games with multiple steals and five games with three steals.
Among all conference players, McGruder was ninth in steals per game (1.6) and 12th in points per game (14.4) and rebounds per game (7.3), as well as the leader in blocks, blocks per game and field-goal percentage. McGruder was also named MW Player of the Week this season for the first time.
A large part of UNM’s success this season and a reflection of UNM having a conference-high five players scoring in double figures during conference play has been the consistent play of Duff.
While Duff has scored in double figures in nine games, with a career-high 25 points against Air Force, her impact of finding players on the floor, making the difficult passes seem effortless and controlling the pace has been her biggest impact.
Duff set a career high with 14 assists in a game, registering a double-double with 13 points, with the 14 assists the second-most by a MW player this season. She also had four games with seven assists. The Alabama native finished third in the conference in assists per game and assists with 5.1 and 92, respectively.
Her impact also expanded to the defensive end, recording a steal in every conference game but two with multiple steals in 10 games and three games with three steals. She was credited with at least one steal in 10 of last 11 games. Duff finished seventh in the conference in steals per game (1.6) with 29 steals, which was second on the team in steals.
Duff led the Lobos in assists and in free throws made (43), attempted (47) and free-throw percentage (91.5%).
In her first year as a Lobo, Reus was the consistent sixth player for the Lobos. The freshman scored in double figures in seven games, finishing with 17 points in two games and also had a season-high 19 points. Her impact was also felt on the defensive end with at least one block in six games and recorded multiple blocks in two, while also recording at least one steal in seven games. Reus also showcased her ability to facilitate, dishing out at least one assist in 12 games with multiple assists in seven games and four games with three assists. Reus averaged 8.8 points per game, 4.6 rebounds per game, 1.3 assists per game and 0.4 blocks and steals per game, while playing 20.3 minutes per game.
The Lobos enter the MW Tournament as the No. 2 seed and will take the court on Monday, March 7 at 6 p.m. PT/ 7 p.m. MT against the winner of Sunday’s San Diego State-Boise State matchup.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Desi-Rae Young, So., C, UNLV
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Cierra Winters, Sr., G, Air Force
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Upe Atosu, Sr., G, Colorado State
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Allyson Fertig, Fr., C, Wyoming
SIXTH PERSON OF THE YEAR
Nneka Obiazor, So., UNLV
COACH OF THE YEAR
Chris Gobrecht, Air Force
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Riley Snyder, Sr., F, Air Force
McKenna Hofschild, Jr., G, Colorado State
Haley Cavinder, Jr., G, Fresno State
Da’Ja Hamilton, Sr., G, Nevada
Jaedyn De La Cerda, Sr., G, New Mexico
Shaiquel McGruder, Sr., F, New Mexico
Antonia Anderson, Sr., F, New Mexico
Desi-Rae Young, So., C, UNLV
Essence Booker, Jr., G, UNLV
McKinley Bradshaw, Jr., G, Wyoming
HONORABLE MENTION
Upe Atosu, Sr., G, Colorado State
LaTora Duff, Sr., G, New Mexico
Sophia Ramos, Sr., G, San Diego State
Adryanna Quezada, Jr., G/F, Utah State
ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Cierra Winters, Sr., G, Air Force
Alyssa Jimenez, So., G, Nevada
Shaiquel McGruder, Sr., F, New Mexico
Justice Ethridge, Sr., G, UNLV
Desi-Rae Young, So., C, UNLV
Quinn Weidemann, Sr., G, Wyoming
All-FRESHMAN TEAM
Audrey Roden, Fr., G, Nevada
Paula Reus, Fr., G, New Mexico
Asia Avinger, Fr., G, San Diego State
Alyssa Durazo-Frescas, Fr., G, UNLV
Allyson Fertig, Fr., C, Wyoming