Lobo women's basketball prepping for stiff challenges in 2025-26

University of New Mexico women’s basketball coach Mike Bradbury has high expectations for his team in 2025-26.

He also expects the Lobos to be tested early and often.

UNM began fall workouts last week with all 13 players (six returnees and seven newcomers) in attendance. The Lobos will practice on a limited basis until late September, when they start ramping up for the Oct. 4 Lobo Howl and their Oct. 22 exhibition opener against Adams State.

But starting in November, things get serious in a hurry for the Lobos. UNM’s pre-Mountain West schedule is a beast with five Power 4 Conference teams (Colorado, Texas Tech, Arizona, Cincinnati and Houston) among its 11 foes. Seven of the 11 had winning records last season.

“Very challenging,” Bradbury said. “It’s one of the most difficult schedules we’ve played with some marquee games and really good opponents, but we feel like this team will be up to it. It should be fun for the fans.”

UNM faces six teams that played in the 2024-25 postseason, five in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Invitational and one (New Mexico State) that played in the WNIT.

But in the days of NIL and the transfer portal, it’s hard to read too much into last season’s results. For example, Houston had the worst record (5-25) among UNM’s upcoming opponents last season, but has since brought in veteran coach Matthew Mitchell (formerly at Kentucky) and revamped its roster with high-profile transfers.

Other teams, such as Texas Tech, are easier to predict. The Lady Raiders are senior-loaded after finishing hot last season. They upset then-No. 11 Kansas and No. 6 Utah in the Big 12 Tournament and ousted Wyoming and Virginia Tech in the WBIT before falling to Florida.

UNM foes Northern Arizona and North Carolina A&T also advanced to the WBIT last season, winning 27 and 21 games, respectively. By schedule date, here’s a quick look at the Lobos’ nonconference foes and their 2024-25 records.

Nov. 3: Northern Arizona (27-8)

Nov. 6: at Colorado (21-13)

Nov. 9: North Carolina A&T (19-12)

Nov. 12: New Orleans (5-24)

Nov. 16: at New Mexico State (18-16)

Nov. 20: UT Martin (13-19)

Nov. 23: Texas Tech (19-18)

Nov. 28-29: vs. Cincinnati (15-14) and Chicago State (7-26) at Florida Gulf Classic Challenge

Dec. 7: at Arizona (19-14)

Dec. 13: Houston (5-25)

MOUNTAIN WEST CHANGES: The MWC basketball schedules have not yet been released but the recent addition of Grand Canyon will force some changes to regular-season and tournament formats.

Women’s teams will play 20 regular-season league games this season and were slated to face every foe twice — as MWC men’s teams did last season. Instead, they will face nine opponents twice and two just once.

Increasing the MWC field to 12 schools will also change the conference tournament format on both the men’s and women’s side. Instead of the top five regular-season finishers earning first-round byes, only four will advance directly to the quarterfinals. The opening round will feature four games (seeds 5-12), with winners advancing.

According to the conference website, the Mountain West women’s tournament begins Saturday, March 7 — a day earlier than in recent years — and concludes on Tuesday, March 10. The men’s tournament begins Wednesday, March 11 and concludes Saturday, March 14. Both tournaments will be played at UNLV’s Thomas& Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

SCHEDULE NOTES: The UNM women will open the regular-season against NAU for a second straight season. The Lumberjacks edged the Lobos 80-78 on a buzzer-beater in 2024-25. … Bradbury will square off with a former assistant when UNM takes on Cincinnati in the Florida Gulf Classic Challenge. Bearcats coach Katrina Merriweather assisted Bradbury at Wright State and took over as head coach when Bradbury moved to UNM. She later spent two seasons at Memphis before moving to Cincinnati in 2023.