With just five letterwinners and two starters coming back for the Northwest women's basketball team for the 2011-12 season, 25th-year head coach Don Edwards knows it will take time for this year's team to learn how to play together but expects the Lady Rangers to be in the thick of things late in the year.

"We lost some good players last year and have a bunch of new faces," Edwards said. "We have to find a way to play together. Because of our size, we'll run the same type of offense we did last year. We'll have to run up and down the court the full 40 minutes and hopefully wear teams down."

Don Edwards has posted a 363-257 (.585) overall record in his first 24 seasons at Northwest and 180-118 (.604) mark in the north division, while leading the Lady Rangers to four Region XXIII Tournament appearances, three national tournament appearances and a pair of state titles back in 1995 and 1996.

Northwest went 9-12 overall last season but finished the season strong by winning four of its final seven contests. The Lady Rangers also finished fifth in the MACJC North Division with a 5-6 conference record, falling one win shy of a state tournament berth.

The Lady Rangers will have to replace 68 percent of their scoring with the loss of key sophomores Sandricka Bowen (11 ppg), Lanita Futrell (10.1 ppg), Brittany Patton (10.1 ppg) and Dequashia Simpson (9.2 ppg), but are optimistic in having Patton back after the Christmas break. The 5-foot-7 forward from Sardis recently had a child, and is conditioning herself to be cleared later in the season.

In all, Northwest welcomes back six players in sophomore forwards Erica Turner (Memphis, Tenn.), Brittani Smith (Oxford), Holly Wells (Grenada) and Sara Waldrip (Clarksdale), sophomore guard Sherneal Thompson (Abbeville) and redshirt freshman guard Queena Booker (Oxford). With the loss of sophomore Catonya Newsom (Como) in the preseason due to an ACL injury and Patton, the Lady Rangers will be without two expected starters in the lineup and will start three, sometimes four freshmen – a first in a long time under Edwards.

Two starters return in Turner and Thompson, with both players appearing in all 21 games last season. In 19 starts, Turner averaged 8.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.7 blocks-per-game, emerging as a complete player. Thompson was a huge sixth man for the Lady Rangers coming off the bench in 20 games, averaging 7.4 points a game and leading the team in 3-point percentage (34 percent).

This year, Northwest also welcomes nine newcomers to the fold including guards Tiesha Tunstall (Olive Branch), Bridgette Griffin (Lambert), Shermeka Lewis (Memphis, Tenn.), Shaquilla Isom (Abbeville) and Domonique Early (Jackson, Tenn.) forwards Monique Biggins (Horn Lake), Kristiana Fisher (Indianola) and Ashley Smith (Falcon) and center Jearica McBride (Carrollton).

"Most of our newcomers will make an impact on our team this year," Edwards said. "I feel we have some pretty good athletes with great quickness and can really score the basketball."

Eleven of Northwest's 23 scheduled regular season games in 2011-12 will be played in the friendly confines of Howard Coliseum, a place the Lady Rangers have thrived over the last two decades. Dating back to the 1995-96 season, Northwest has won 75 percent of its games in Senatobia, including a pair of undefeated regular seasons.

"In this league, you have to defend your home court and steal one or two on the road to be successful," Edwards said. "We really want to get off to a good start to our non-conference schedule. And just like it is every season, it's a disappointment if we don't make the postseason."

The Lady Rangers open the season with six road games in their first nine contests and will play 9th-ranked Copiah-Lincoln twice in five days on Nov. 17 and again on Nov. 22. Ranked No. 4 at the time, Northwest upset the Lady Wolves in Senatobia last season in overtime, 68-66.

The north division schedule tips off on Dec. 1 against Northeast in Senatobia and closes on the road Feb. 23 at Mississippi Delta. As it is each season, the league slate features six home and six away contests. Mixed in are non-conference meetings vs. Columbia State (Tenn.) on Jan. 10 and a pair of matchups against East Central on Jan. 17 and Feb. 9.

The Lady Rangers will open the 2011-12 season in Senatobia on Tuesday, Nov. 1 against Southwest Mississippi at 5 p.m.