ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Ahead of Mountain West Media Day on Thursday, the conference announced the preseason awards and the preseason predicted order of finish with Destinee Hooks selected to the Preseason All-Mountain West Team and the Lobos picked to finish fifth.
UNM received two first-place votes and finished with 207 points, one of three teams to receive multiple first-place votes and one of six teams to receive a first-place vote. UNLV was picked as the preseason favorite with 19 first-place votes and 281 points with San Diego State second with 240 points and received three first-place votes. Colorado State was picked third with 236 points and one first-place vote and Boise State narrowly edged out the Lobos for the fourth spot in the order of finish with 210 points and received one first-place vote.
The separation between fifth and sixth was 13 points with Wyoming projected to finish sixth with new conference opponent Grand Canyon picked seventh with one first-place vote and 177 points. Air Force (132 points), Fresno State (95 points), Nevada (92 points), Utah State (54 points) and San José State (44 points) rounded out the order of finish.
For Hooks, the Lobo was one of 10 players selected for the preseason team, and comes after she earned Mountain West Honorable Mention following her first season as a Lobo.
Against conference opponents in 2024-25, Hooks reached double figures in 15 games, averaging 14.2 points per game, with two games of 20 or more points, including 27 points against UNLV. In addition, Hooks led the Lobos in scoring in eight conference games and finished 11th in the conference in scoring and 10th in field goal percentage (.420). Defensively, Hooks recorded a steal in 10 games with multiple steals in six.
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
|
Place |
Team (first-place votes) |
Points |
|
1. |
UNLV (19) |
281 |
|
2. |
San Diego State (3) |
240 |
|
3. |
Colorado State (1) |
236 |
|
4. |
Boise State (1) |
210 |
|
5. |
New Mexico (2) |
207 |
|
6. |
Wyoming |
194 |
|
7. |
Grand Canyon (1) |
177 |
|
8. |
Air Force |
132 |
|
9. |
Fresno State |
95 |
|
10. |
Nevada |
92 |
|
11. |
Utah State |
54 |
|
12. |
San Jose State |
44 |
ALL-MW PRESEASON TEAM
| Pos. | Yr. | Team | |||||
| Milahnie Perry | G | Sr. | AF | ||||
| Natalie Pasco | G | Sr. | BSU | ||||
| Tatum Thompson | F | Sr. | BSU | ||||
| Hannah Ronsiek | G | Sr. | CSU | ||||
| Chloe Mann | G | So | GCU | ||||
| Destinee Hooks | G | Jr. | UNM | ||||
| Naomi Panganiban | G | So. | SDSU | ||||
| Aaliyah Alexander | G | Gr. | UNLV | ||||
| Meadow Roland | F | So. | UNLV | ||||
| Malene Pedersen | G | Sr. | WYO | ||||