SENATOBIA - After a historic season that saw the Northwest Mississippi Community College women's basketball team accumulate a 23-9 record and reach the NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball National Tournament via a Region 23 Championship automatic bid, sophomores Alorian Story and Dekyra Mitchell added to the team's accolades, receiving All-Region 23 honors.
Head Coach LaTaryl Williams was also named as both District and Region 23 Coach of the Year for guiding the team to their first 20-win season since the 1997-98 season where the Rangers went 23-10, and their first national tournament appearance since 2004-05.
A stalwart in the paint, Story finished the season averaging a double-double with 16.1 points and 13.4 rebounds a game, a rebounding rate that was good for fourth in the nation. She led the team in rebounds and was less than a point behind the team-leader in average points per game. Story accumulated 25 double-doubles in 32 games. This includes a stretch of games that saw her earn 13 double-doubles in a row. The sophomore from Ripley, Mississippi also had at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in two games.
In the NWCC's game against Dodge City in the NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball National Tournament, Story garnered another trademark double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds. She was also named to the Region 23 All-Tournament Team and given First Team All-MACCC honors.
A lethal threat from behind the arc, Mitchell finished the season averaging a team-leading 16.9 points a game. Mitchell was by far the team leader in both three-point shots attempted (260) and three-point shots made (80). She also led the Rangers in free throw percentage, shooting 78.9% from the charity stripe. This season Mitchell was also a force to be reckoned with defensively, accumulating 76 steals which was good for second on the team.
During Northwest's game against Dodge City in the NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball National Tournament, Mitchell led the Rangers in scoring with 14 points. She was also given First Team All-MACCC honors.
"We knew early on that they were going to be very instrumental in our success this season," Head Coach LaTaryl Williams said. "Not just on the court, but off the court as well. They're pretty good student athletes. They take care of their business in the classroom and do the same thing on the court."
In his fourth season as head coach, Coach Williams accumulated the best record for Northwest in 28 years. Under his leadership, NWCC went on a nine-game win streak in order to finish the regular season third in the MACCC and claim the Region 23 Championship, earning an automatic bid to NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball National Tournament.
Williams coached a staunch defensive team that only allowed an average of 45.8 points to be scored against them while averaging 62.3 points a game and ended the season with a comfortable average scoring margin of 26.5.
- Article credit Mary Grace Black, NWCC.
