UNM women inch closer to top 25 ranking
9-0 Lobos received 26 votes in AP Poll, good for 27th place
The University of New Mexico Lobos remained like the fictional big bad wolf according to Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll voters Monday. Did the 9-0 Lobos get in? Not by the hair on voters’ chinny chin chins. UNM’s persistent knocking is having an impact, though. Coming off road wins at UTEP and New Mexico State, coach Mike Bradbury’s team received 26 votes in Monday’s AP poll, up from 19 last week and 8 the week before. Unofficially, the Lobos are tied with Iowa for 27th place, 15 votes behind Arizona State and 64 behind official No. 25 California.
It seems the Lobos still have some huffing and puffing to do to crack the rankings. The USA Today Coaches Poll will be released today but UNM received just 2 votes last week for an unofficial No. 40 position.
Bradbury says he pays little attention to the polls and it could certainly be argued that other national numbers are more significant. Ratings percentage index is one example, and two road wins boosted UNM’s RPI standing.
According to realtime.rpi’s rankings, New Mexico climbed from 50th to 29th in the past
Wednesday Texas Tech at UNM 7 p.m., 610 AM
week. UNM also moved into the top 50 according to Jeff Sagarin’s power ratings for the first time this season at No. 48.
The Lobos will have opportunities to strengthen their various résumés in the coming weeks. They host Texas Tech (3-4) on Wednesday and Navy (8-0) on Sunday before traveling to Oklahoma (3-4) on Dec. 16.
LIGHTING IT UP: After a grinding 59-35 win at UTEP, New Mexico returned to its high-octane scoring pace in Saturday’s 101-93 win at New Mexico State. It was the first time the Lobos scored 100-plus points in a road game since a 103-49 romp over West Texas State in 1979.
Through eight games against Division I foes, UNM is averaging 87.2 points and ranks eighth nationally in scoring offense. The Lobos also rank fifth in 3-pointers made (97), seventh in attempts (237), fifth in fewest turnovers per game (11.3), and eighth in assist-to-turnover ration (1.53).
Individually, several Lobos are among the national leaders. Tesha Buck ranks fourth in 3-pointers made with 31, and Cherise Beynon is 10th in assists with 57.
Jaisa Nunn’s name is listed near the top of numerous categories. The junior is ninth in field goal percentage (63.5), 11th
in total rebounds (94), offensive rebounds per game (5.0) and double-doubles (5).
BRINGING THE NOISE: Bradbury appeared surprised Saturday when a group of UNM fans gave him a loud ovation after his postgame radio show at the Pan American Center. It qualified as a pleasant surprise.
“When you can go to a rival school and your fans outnumber theirs,” Bradbury said, “that’s something special. It’s like I’ve said before, best fans in the country.” MOUNTAIN WEST UPDATE: Colorado State and San Diego State put together solid weeks to move up in the preseason standings. The Rams and Aztecs are tied for second place with 5-2 records.
CSU defeated Denver and picked up a 56-54 home win over BYU last week. The Rams have won three straight and host rival Colorado on Wednesday.
San Diego State nipped crosstown rival San Diego 77-76 then rolled to a 78-67 win at Arizona. Aztecs senior McKynzie Fort averaged 25 points in the wins and broke UNM’s three-week stranglehold on MWC Player of the Week honors.
UNLV (4-3) dropped games to UC Riverside and Buffalo at Arizona State’s invitational. Former Lobo Jannon Otto scored 14 points in Riverside’s win over the Rebels.