Last season didn't end the way the Northwest Lady Rangers had hoped.

After finishing as the MACJC North Division runner-ups the previous two seasons, Northwest finished 11-10 overall and failed to make the MACJC Tournament with a 5-7 division record.

Despite not making the postseason, women's coach and recent Northwest Hall of Fame inductee Don Edwards still credits the effort shown by last year's squad.
     
"For the most part, we showed some good effort," Edwards said. "We played a little inconsistent at times, we were either really good or really bad and that reflected in the final record. Overall, we had a good group of kids and got a lot out of them, but we just needed to be a little more consistent in our style of play."
     
Now entering his 31st season at the helm, Edwards will be looking for this year's team to make a return to the MACJC Tournament, which would be his 20th career tournament appearance. With a total of eight returning sophomores and a Division I transfer, the Lady Rangers could have a good shot to compete for a postseason spot.
     
Northwest will need its large returning sophomore class to fill in the holes left by the departure of four of the Lady Rangers' top five scorers. Averyale Joy (Freed-Hardeman), Janesha Johnson (University of Charleston) and Destiny Gardner (North Alabama) all averaged seven points per game or more last season, leaving Chrissah Shaw as the top returning scorer. A Horn Lake native, Shaw got the start in 14 of the team's 21 contests last year and averaged 8.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.
     
Joining Shaw are returning sophomores Shelbi Buford, Astraea Moore, Tamaria Thomas and Brooke Walker and all four of those players saw valuable minutes in nearly all games last season. Moore, a Southaven native, received the most starts (seven) and came up big defensively with nine blocked shots. Thomas also made her presence known off the bench, leading the team with 16 blocked shots and finishing sixth in total rebounds at 77.
     
Rounding out the sophomore class this season is Destiny Gaylor, Danielle Ratliff and Emily Bush.
     
"I think we have a pretty good class overall," Edwards said, on his sophomore group. "Some of them didn't play a lot last year, but they're going to have to step up considering that we have lost our top scorers. Destiny is one that has really improved over time and I look for her to step up in the point guard role this season. I think the sophomores will be just fine and they will get a little help from the freshmen coming in."
     
Joining the Lady Rangers will be Tennessee State transfer Ciara Pettis. The Memphis native saw action in 20 games during her freshman season and averaged 6.7 minutes per game, playing a season-high of 24 minutes against Wisconsin and leaving TSU with a season-high of six points in a game against Arkansas State. The addition of Pettis will certainly help to add experience to the sizeable sophomore class.
     
Northwest also signed five freshmen to this year's squad, including Horn Lake product Mercades Ward. A former high school teammate of Shaw, Ward helped Horn Lake to a 19-8 record last season and the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs and will be relied upon to help Gaylor at point guard.
     
Independence duo Nakia Walker and Abby Miller also join the Lady Rangers this season. Both players helped the Lady Kats to three consecutive Class 3A playoff appearances, including a trip to the state semifinals in 2015-16. At 6-foot-2, Miller will battle it out with sophomore Thomas for the center position.
     
Sydney Liddell (Carroll Academy) and Kayla Bradley (White Station HS) round out this year's freshmen.
     
Northwest will once again have a challenging slate ahead for this season. In addition to the always tough north division, the Lady Rangers will also face programs such as Mineral Area College, ASU Mid-South and Lawson State in the first half of the season before opening MACJC competition with East Mississippi on Dec. 4
     
Highlighting the non-division schedule is a pair of tournaments. Northwest will host its own tournament in mid-November, welcoming Mineral Area and Lawson State to Howard Coliseum, before ringing in the new year against Mineral Area and Moberly Area in the Holiday Inn Classic in Park Hills, Mo. on Jan. 1-2. From there, the Lady Rangers will jump back into division play with back-to-back road trips to Northeast and Holmes.
     
"Those will be some tough games for us," Edwards said. "Mineral Area and Moberly both have some international players that are a little more experienced than what we're used to. Lawson also went to the national tournament recently, so we will have our work cut out for us with those teams. The division is going to be tough once again, especially on the road. Itawamba is good, Northeast has gotten better and Holmes has some great talent. It will be a struggle once again."
       
While Northwest has the goal of getting back to the postseason fresh on its mind, navigating through a tough schedule is never an easy task, regardless of how much experience is returning. For Edwards, the key will be taking everything one step at a time.
     
"We have to improve day-by-day and with every game we play," he said. "We want to be right there at the end with our opponents, whether that means winning the MACJC, the region or whatever. We just want to keep going, but right now we have to worry about getting over the hump and improving ourselves. Everything else will take care of itself."
       
Northwest will open its season on Thursday, Nov. 2 against Blue Mountain College JV at 5 p.m. before a pair of road contests at East Central and Arkansas State-Mid South.