Mountain West departures: Lobo women have 5 of league's 44 transfer portal entries

The NCAA women’s basketball transfer portal continues to resemble a crowded airport just before a holiday weekend.

Lots of departures, plenty of confusion and not many arrivals just yet.

The University of New Mexico and most of its Mountain West rivals are playing roles in the ever-evolving travel frenzy. As of Friday, the Lobos had five players in the portal and the conference had 44 of the 1,241 Division 1 women’s players listed on tracking sites.

Three UNM players entered the portal this week, two of them expected and one not. Forward Paris Lauro announced her decision to transfer via social media Thursday night following guards Reza Po and Lilli Hakkarainen into the portal. Guards Lara Langermann and Lydie Mwamba opted to transfer last week.

Lauro appreared in 30 of UNM’s 32 games as a sophomore, averaging 2.5 points and 1.3 rebounds in 7.7 minutes off the bench.

She typically filled in for leading scorer Viané Cumber and provided a 3-point shooting threat (15-for-41 last season). Lauro scored a career-best 18 points in a late-season UNM win at Fresno State.

Po and Hakkarainen played sparingly as freshmen. Po averaged 2.9 points and 1.2 assists in 18 games, most of them early in the season, while Hakkarainen appeared in five games.

Lauro initially indicated she planned to return to UNM but opted for the transfer portal in hopes of getting more playing time elsewhere, Lobos coach Mike Bradbury said. Playing time was a driving factor for all of the Lobos’ five transfers, each of whom came off the bench.

Sophomore wing Drew Jordon’s name also appeared in the portal this week, but Jordon participated in UNM’s workouts Friday and plans to return next season, Bradbury said.

That leaves the Lobos with six returning players and four newcomers signed for 2025-26. The returnees are starters Alyssa Hargrove, Destinee Hooks and Joana Magalhães, reserves Jordon and Nayli Padilla and post Clarissa Craig, who missed last season due to injury. The newcomers are freshmen Laila Abdurraqib, Kaia Foster, Tyler Jones and sophomore Emma Najjuma.

MWC MAKEOVER: Mountain West women’s basketball fans can expect a dramatically different landscape next season. With the exception of Air Force, every MWC team has at least one player in the portal and several top contenders will be looking at roster overhauls.

That includes regular-season champ UNLV, which has five players in the portal including All-MWC standout Amarachi Kimpson and starting forward McKinna Brackens. The Rebels lost key seniors Kiara Jackson, Macie James and Alyssa Brown, as well.

Mountain West tournament champ San Diego State had five seniors (three starters) last season and has three players in the portal. Runner-up Wyoming had six seniors (four starters) and has one player in the portal.

Fresno State could be starting over with seven players in the portal, four of them starters including All-MWC standout Mia Jacobs. Nevada has six players in the portal, while Utah State has a league-high nine.

“There’s no telling what the league’s going to look like when all this transfer stuff is said and done,” Bradbury said. “A lot of good players are leaving, but I expect some really good ones will transfer in, too. I can’t even begin to predict who the top teams will be until the rosters are set.”

Barring more transfers, New Mexico and Boise State may have the most core players returning. The transfer portal closes April 22.

NMSU: The Aggies will have some rebuilding to do after going 18-16 and advancing to the second round of the WNIT. NMSU had nine players on its roster listed as seniors, including Conference USA Player of the Year Molly Kaiser, who completed her fifth season in 2024-25.

Four of those seniors are among seven NMSU players in the portal, a list that includes starters Jaila Harding and Fanta Gassama.

GREENER GRASS? Results were mixed for players who left UNM for the transfer portal last year, but most did not see significant bumps in playing time. Nahawa Diarra-Berthe was an exception, averaging 35 minutes a game as a starter at Mercer (8-22). She averaged 9.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists. Other transfers’ stats are as follows:

Nyah Wilson at Missouri (14-18) — Played in 31 games with 15 starts, 18.0 minutes, 4.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists per game.

Paula Reus at Loyola Marymount (14-16) — Suffered season-ending knee injury after playing in season opener.

Natalia Chavez at Abilene Christian (22-13) — Played in 35 games with three starts, 14.4 minutes, 4.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, 0.6 assists per game.

Mackenzie Curtis at Idaho (18-12) — Played in 11 games, 3.7 minutes, 1.8 points, 0.6 rebounds, 0.3 assists per game.

Hannah Robbins at Montana State (30-4) — Played in 22 games, 5.5 minutes, 1.8 points, 0.9 rebounds, 0.4 assists per game; has since entered the transfer portal.

Charlotte Kohl returned home and played professionally in the German 2 Bundesliga last season. Aniyah Augmon, Jaelyn Bates and Gianna McManaman did not play in 2024-25.