Women’s basketball: NMJC tops preseason Junior College poll

By Journal staff and wire reports

Tuesday, October 30th, 2018 at 9:55pm

New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs is the No. 1-ranked team in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) women's preseason basketball coaches poll released Monday.

The Thunderbirds received 200 points. Second place was Northwest Florida State with 192 points, and third place was Gulf Coast State with 184 points.

"The NJCAA ranking us number one in the preseason poll is a great honor," coach Drew Sanders said. "To my knowledge this is the first time in NMJC women's basketball history that we have been ranked number one in a preseason poll.

"It is now up to our team and coaches to make sure we understand that the most important time to be ranked number one is the last game of the year."

NMJC's 12-player roster includes four from Texas, six from outside the U.S., one from Louisiana and a hometown star — Hobbs freshman Amaya Lewis.

NMJC begins its season hosting a men's and women's tournament Thursday-Saturday at the Caster Activity Center.