SENATOBIA – The Northwest Mississippi Community College women's basketball team (23-8) received their tournament seed as they prepare for the 2026 NJCAA Division I National Tournament, hosted by McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Northwest received the 23 seed in the 24-team field and will face off against the 10 seed Dodge City Community College (24-4) out of Kansas.
The winner of that game will move on to face the College of Southern Idaho (26-4) who earned the first-round bye as the seven seed in the bracket.
Knowing the road ahead means the Rangers can now start focusing on taking the good energy from the Region 23 championship and move it to the next step.
"If feels good to make it to the tournament. It's been a while since Northwest has made it. But now that we know who we are playing, we just have to watch film and work hard and go hard," sophomore guard and Region 23 Tournament MVP Takera Blandsaid.
"Now we go back into what we have been doing all season," Head Coach LaTaryl Williams said as he prepares for his first trip to the national tournament as a head coach after playing in the NJCAA men's tournament in 1998 with Northwest.
"Preparing for (Dodge City), get a scouting report on them and watch some film. You know, everyone is zero and zero right now and we feel really confident in how we have been playing the last two months, so a lot won't change right now as we get physically and mentally prepared for next week."
The Rangers were hoping to have a better seed entering the tournament after having played in a difficult non-conference schedule where they faced off against two teams that made the field three times, with two of those games coming down to late possessions against Three Rivers College and Trinity Valley Community College.
"It is just motivation knowing that we are that low," Bland said. "We didn't expect to be number 23 but its motivation to keep going. We are glad we made it, but when we get back to the gym, we just have to go hard. We can't lay down now. We got a ring, but we are going for another championship, so we have to continue to fight."
Williams said he can lean into his past experience from his tournament run when the Rangers entered the field as a lower seed, making it all the way to the Final Four before losing to the eventual National Champion's in Indian Hills Community College.
"To be 23rd, I feel like it was kind of a snub, but at the same time we are excited about the opportunity. I'm very familiar with that when I played in '98, we had a really low seed and ended up beating the number two seed and the number seven seed in the nation."
The Rangers will be in Lake Charles starting on Monday the 23rd for shoot arounds before action begins on Tuesday the 24th with four opening round games. Those feature:
#16 New Mexico JC vs #17 Arizona Western – 10:00 AM
#15 Grayson College (TX) vs #18 Southwestern Illinois – 12:15 PM
#13 Hutchinson (KS) vs #20 Williston State (ND) – 2:30 PM
#14 Chipola (FL) vs #19 Northeast Oklahoma – 4:45 PM
Wednesday will feature the Rangers at 12:15 PM with three other games including:
#9 State Fair (MO) vs #24 Central Georgia Tech – 10:00 AM
#12 Three Rivers College (MO) vs #21 Monroe (NY) – 2:30 PM
#11 Gulf Coast State (FL) vs Gillette College (WY) – 4:45 PM
The winners of the opening round will face off against the top eight seeds beginning on Thursday, starting with #1 Butler (KS), #2 Eastern Arizona, #3 Shelton State (AL), #4 Northwest Florida State, #5 Clarendon (TX), #6 Trinity Valley (TX), #7 College of Southern Idaho, and #8 Walters State (TN).
The full tournament will be streamed on ESPN+ with the championship game moving to ESPNU. You can find more details on the tournament at the NJCAA Championship's home page.
- Article credit Caleb Burggraaf, NWCC Sports Information.
