PORTALES, N.M. - Women's basketball head coach Blake Huber has signed nine players to the team roster. This signing class includes players of all levels, from high school graduates to Division I transfers. Huber stated his goal this offseason was getting "players that know how to compete, know how to win and understand what it takes to play at a high level every single day." Below is every signee of this class.

Cacia Antonio (Guard / Luanda, Angola / New Mexico)
Antonio makes her third stop in the Land of Enchantment after tours of duty at the University of New Mexico and New Mexico Junior College. Last season, she tallied 10.3 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game on a Lobos squad that went 22-9. She notched a season-high 22 points against UNLV and scored ten points or more in more than half of the games she played. Prior to last season, Antonio spent two years with the New Mexico Junior College Thunderbirds, averaging 13.9 PPG and 6.4 RPG in the 2024-25 campaign.

Huber highlighted how Antonio "is nearly impossible to keep in front with her athleticism and size" and said he expects her to be "one of the main catalysts" for this season's Greyhounds team.

Jaidyn Koerdt (Guard / Providence, Arkansas / UNC Asheville)
Koerdt makes her way to the High Plains from the Appalachian Mountains. This is Koerdt's fifth stop on her collegiate journey, previously playing with the aforementioned Bulldogs, Coastal Carolina, Eastern Florida State, and Purdue-Fort Wayne. She played a depth role for UNC Asheville, playing 10.3 minutes per game, scoring 2.7 PPG, and scoring a season-high 19 points against Warren Wilson College (D-III). She didn't see the court for the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina in the 2024-25 season, averaged 9.9 PPG in 2023-24 for Eastern Florida State, and played in 40 total minutes across ten games.

This signing has an added personal touch for Huber. He has known Koerdt for "a long time" and showed respect for her father, who he called "one of the best coaches in the state of Arkansas."

Jaila Childress (Guard / Las Vegas, Nevada / Northwest College)
Childress also comes to Portales by way of the transfer portal. This will be the second college in the South Central Region Childress has gone to, the first being Fort Lewis. She did not play in one year there. Her 2025-26 run with the Trappers saw her work well in a prominent backcourt role. Childress put up 7.9 PPG in 33 games (33 starts) and shot 72.7% on free throws.

Coach Huber believes Childress will continue to blossom into a prominent scorer at all three levels. "The way she can shoot it brings a dynamic that we did not have last season," Huber said.

Desta Rose (Guard / Logan, New Mexico / Logan High)
Rose is the only member of this signing class coming here straight out of high school. She contributed to a Logan Longhorns 2025-26 season in which they finished 27-4 and won the 1A state championship.

Huber lauded her experience with winning teams and is excited to see her develop over her career at Eastern New Mexico. He dubbed the New Mexico Clippers, Rose's AAU team, as "the best AAU organization in the state."

Makayla Vation (Guard / Aubrey, Texas / Ouachita Baptist)
Vation comes to Eastern with a similar workload from last year as Koerdt's. Her 2025-26 at Ouachita Baptist saw her enter 20 games, but start none of them. She played 10.8 minutes per game, and worked at 3.6 PPG and 2.0 RPG clips. Her limited overall playing time didn't exactly restrict her from playing starter-type minutes, though, and she made the most of her 24 minutes against Great American Conference foe Arkansas-Monticello by putting up a season-high 11 points.

Coach Huber believes what Vation brings fits perfectly with his on-court plans for success. "She is a big guard that can really play in the paint with her strength and handle," he said. "She fits what we are trying to accomplish now and in the future in our program."

Daniya McDonald (Guard/Forward / Columbus, Ohio / Chipola College)
McDonald spent two seasons at Chipola (NJCAA), playing in 16.5 minutes per game over those two campaigns. She saw a slight downtick in playing time from year one to year two, but her stats mostly improved. Those stat jumps include a 3.4% improvement in field goal percentage (36.4% to 39.8%), a 2% climb in three point shooting (27.5% to 29.5%), and a 7.3% leap in charity stripe shooting (66.0% to 73.3%).

"Daniya is someone that can really do anything on the basketball floor," Huber stated. "We expect her to have [an] immediate impact for our program."

Eleionna "Onna" Brown (Guard/Forward / Portland, Oregon / Texas A&M-Texarkana)
Onna Brown is another player brought in by Huber who has played at several levels collegiately. She has made stops at Hofstra, Trinity Valley Community College (NJCAA), and Texas A&M-Texarkana (NAIA, but now Division II as of July 10). During her year in Texarkana, she scored at a 10.8 PPG rate while shooting 41.6% from the field and 31.4% from the behind the arc. Her highest-scoring performance of last season came against a Division II opponent (Henderson State, to be specific). Brown hit the quarter-century mark in an 85-81 loss in Arkadelphia.

This also is not the first time she has played for a team called "Greyhounds." She played for the Northwest Greyhounds while playing AAU ball. Coach Huber highlighted her multi-faceted offensive prowess, citing her three-point shooting and ability at the rim. "We can't wait to get her to campus," Huber said.

Paris Gaines (Forward / Orlando, Florida / Memphis)
Gaines has three seasons of experience at the Division I level. She began her career in Lawrence, appearing in nine games. Gaines transferred to Georgia Southern, where she averaged 7.4 PPG and 4.8 RPG in 16 games. After going to Memphis, her role increased further. She scored 5.7 PPG, grabbed 4.5 RPG, and put up a double-double (17 points, 12 rebounds) against Louisiana.

"She is one of the most gifted post players that I have ever coached," Huber said. "She can really do anything she wants on the basketball floor."

Delfina Cergneux (Forward / Entre Rios, Argentina / Florida SouthWestern State)
Cergneux earned a starting role with the Bucs last year, getting the nod in 26 of 31 games she played. She operated at 5.2 PPG and 6.2 RPG clips in the 2025-26 campaign and aims to establish herself as a fearsome presence in the paint.

Coach Huber said he brought Cergneux in for her ability "to do all the dirty work to win games." He said her defensive play will be "huge" in the 2026-27 campaign.

These nine transfers join returners Toyah Montgomery (5.3 PPG and 3.6 RPG), Mekhila Brown (6.9 and 2.8), Hannah Jensen (2.2 and 0.8), Kaitlyn Edmondson (did not play), and Daci Smith (2.6 and 0.8).

"The expectation inside our program is to continue building on what we accomplished last season and take another step forward," Huber added. More details about the upcoming season will be released in the near future.