NMJC (WBB) Tips Off 2024-25 in Hobbs, NM
The No. 7 Thunderbird women's basketball team tips off the season at home inside the Caster Activity Center this weekend with games against Trinidad State and Barton College.
The T-Birds start the season at 2 p.m. MDT on Friday, Nov. 1 against the Trinidad State Trojans.
The second game of the tournament will be played on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 10:30 a.m. MDT against the Barton Community College Cougars. All games will be streamed live on the NMJC YouTube page.
The Thunderbirds return six sophomores from last year's squad in forward Pania Davis, guard Cacia Antonio, guard Nuria Estrade, forward Amyah Sutton, guard Danielle Smith, and forward Khadidja Toure.
"They're not freshmen anymore," NMJC women's basketball head coach Austin Mefford said. "Danielle Smith is our biggest talker and motivator in practice every day, and she's kind of grown into that role from her freshman to sophomore year, but each one of them is doing different things to really help us on and off the court."
"They've had the experience. They've been to the Region V Tournament. They've been to the national tournament. They know what to expect this year. The sophomores have become leaders this year."
6-6 Forward Pania Davis led the team in field goal percentage at 52.2%, in blocks with 3.0, and in rebounds with 9.9 RPG following the 2023-24 season. The NJCAA Second Team All-American holds the school record for most blocks in a season with 95.
Point guard Cacia Antonio was the team's leading scorer in 2023-24 with 14.8 PPG. The NJCAA Honorable Mention All-American also averaged 7.9 RPG and 4.2 APG.
"You know, there's always a huge difference between freshman and sophomore year," Coach Mefford said. "The experience, confidence, ability, and I think with the group we have coming back led by Cacia and Pania and adding others like Amyah Sutton and Nuria Estrade we really have that team that can take that next step."
NMJC will also receive a huge boost from the 6-4 redshirt freshman Emma Najjuma who missed last season with a knee injury.
"Emma's just a difference maker for us, her size, her strength, her ability to rebound, block shots, but it also adds so much to the others around her where now how do you match up with Emma and Pania at the same time with the size they have out there," Coach Mefford said.
"It's been a long road for Emma being out close to a year and now she's back. She's excited, she's ready to go, and I think she's going to be fun to watch."
The T-Birds would not be in this spot with Emma without the constant help from NMJC head athletic trainer Nadia Cole and her staff.
"Nadia kept us right all last year especially when we had a lot of injuries pile up at the end of the year. Then she had to deal with Emma, and Emma's rehab," Coach Mefford said. "There was a lot of questions of when Emma would come back and how she'd come back."
"Nadia really pushed her and got Emma where she needs to be and now she's got her on the court before the season starts. So definitely couldn't do it without Nadia and her staff."
The T-Birds bring in eight freshmen into the fold (Jada Graves, Liz Buendia, Bright Eze, Selenay Tanik, Kaycee Steinke, Andrea Lozoya, Zarai Lewis, and Maya Contreras) for 2024-25 and one sophomore in Central Arkansas transfer Fatime Seck.
"It's been an exciting off season," Coach Mefford said. "We've been able to add a lot of new faces that can come in and do a lot of different things and fill some of the needs that we felt we lacked last year. We've gotten even more size and continued to be long athletic."
"We've added a dynamic point guard in Jada Graves that can come in and play with Cacia at times. We've added the ability to shoot the three better than last year with Fatime Seck a DI transfer coming in and freshman Kaycee Steinke who has the ability to shoot for us."
"We've added some post players with size as well, and athleticism with Maya Contreras, Bright Eze, and Selenay Tanik. I think they can all come in and contribute right away."
NMJC finished last season with a 27-7 (13-1) record in Coach Mefford's fourth year with the T-Birds. The Thunderbirds won the WJCAC Championship and head coach Austin Mefford was named WJCAC Coach of the Year.
The T-Birds made a deep run into the postseason last year when they reached the quarterfinals at the NJCAA Women's Basketball Championships in Casper, Wyoming and look to get back to Casper in 2025.
"We went out and tested ourselves in the preseason playing some DI, DII teams, and four-year schools that were able to physically beat up on us a little bit," Mefford said. "I think we talked about how every game we go into this year, we expect to be the favorite, we expect to win every game this year. Now will we win every game? Odds are not in our favor, but the expectation is to win the league, to win the region, and compete for the national championship."
The T-Birds begin the year with a matchup against Trinidad State Friday, Nov. 1 at 2 p.m. MDT and will finish the weekend on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 10:30 a.m. MDT against the Barton Community College Cougars.
