Double take: UNM women add 6-2 Jessie Joaquim to roster

Jessie Joaquim knows she’ll get more than a few double takes next season in the Pit.

That’s fine by her.

Joaquim, a 6-foot-2 forward who recently completed her sophomore season at Arizona’s Cochise College, is following in the footsteps of her older sister, Hulda Joaquim. Jessie recently signed to play with the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team — barely a month after Hulda finished her third and final season with the Lobos.

Similarities? There are plenty.

Like Hulda, Jessie hails from Maputo, Mozambique, and comes to UNM after two seasons of junior college basketball. Jessie stands an inch or so taller, but there is a family resemblance Lobos fans are sure to notice. The Joaquim sisters also have similar basketball skill sets — to a point.

“Jessie is a really good athlete, runs the floor well and really rebounds,” UNM coach Mike Bradbury said. “She can score in transition, too, and is a very good defender.”

That description could just as easily apply to Hulda, who averaged 7.3 points and 7.0 rebounds as a full-time starter for the Lobos last season. But while Hulda came to UNM as something of a project after averaging 6.0 points and 6.9 rebounds at Seward County Community College, Jessie’s game has already started to blossom.

The younger Joaquim sister averaged 30 minutes, 11.4 points, 11.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game last season for Cochise (20-10). Her numbers got better as the season went on and included some monster performances, especially on the boards. Jessie posted three 20-rebound games, including a 19-point, 27-board effort that helped her earn national NJCAA Division I Player of the Week honors.

Asked about her dominant rebounding, Jessie laughed.

“Everybody wants the ball,” she said. “Sometimes I think I just wanted it more than anyone. I focused on getting position, securing the ball and not letting anyone take it from me.”

Bradbury agreed that Jessie’s game is further along than was Hulda’s when she arrived in Albuquerque, but Jessie fully expects to keep expanding her abilities. She did not initially plan to follow her sister’s path to New Mexico, but changed her mind as time went on.

“To be honest, I wanted to see a different part of the country,” Jessie said. “I thought, ‘(Hulda) is already there and I’ve seen New Mexico.’”

Jessie attended some of her sister’s games in the Pit, however, and was impressed with Hulda’s improvement and the overall atmosphere. After making a campus visit earlier this month, Jessie decided to sign with UNM.

“Things changed,” she said. “I felt very comfortable with the team and the coaching staff. I asked Hulda a lot of questions and just decided it was right. I really liked the intensity and how it feels like the next level. I can’t wait to get there and start expanding my game.”

ROSTER UPDATE: The addition of Jessie Joaquim puts UNM’s roster at 11 players for 2025-26 with the NCAA’s transfer portal now closed. The Lobos have six returning players (Destinee Hooks, Alyssa Hargrove, Joana Magalhães, Nayli Padilla, Drew Jordon and Clarissa Craig), two junior college transfers (Joaquim and Emma Najjuma) and three incoming freshmen (Laila Abdurraqib, Kaia Foster and Tyler Jones).

The Lobos lost three players to graduation and five who entered the transfer portal, but among the latter only Paris Lauro was playing significant minutes late last season.

As of Thursday, Mountain West schools had 56 players who had entered the portal with Air Force the only team unaffected. Between graduation and transfers, MWC women’s basketball figures to look dramatically different in 2025-26.

“We probably won’t know until July or August what the rosters are going to look like,” Bradbury said. “It’s great we were able to retain most of our core because I still believe that’s a key to being successful. It’s not easy with the portal and NIL, but fortunately we have a good culture in place. As of right now, I think (UNM) and Boise State have the most carry-over from last season to next year.”

Bradbury hopes to add two to three more players, primarily guards, in the coming weeks.