SENATOBIA – Coaching at the junior college level usually means that every year will feature a large amount of turnover. Just ask longtime Northwest women's basketball coach Don Edwards.

Edwards, who is entering his 32nd season at the helm of the Lady Rangers' program, will have to deal with a little more of that than usual this season. Northwest returns just three sophomores and one starter from last year's program, while welcoming a total of 11 newcomers to the roster.

"We have so many new faces coming in, so it's going to take us a while to gauge where we're really at," Edwards said. "Basically, we have to figure out who can do what, when and where. Every year seems like a rebuilding process in junior college, but I would say this year feels that way more than past seasons."

Guard Kayla Bradley is the only everyday starter returning to the Lady Rangers' roster. In 20 starts, the Memphis native averaged 8.4 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 20.4 minutes per game. She scored in double figures eight times, notching a season-high 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting at Blue Mountain. Bradley also got the job done in the classroom, earning nods to the 2017-18 MACJC All-Academic Team, NJCAA All-Academic First Team and two selections on Northwest's President's List for the fall and spring semesters.

Joining Bradley as returning sophomores are guards Nakia Walker and Sydney Liddell. Although neither of them were consistent starters, both saw plenty of action last season with Walker earning seven starts in 23 games played and Liddell playing in 15 games.

Aside from Bradley, the remaining four starting spots are still a mystery at this point. While Northwest certainly fields a young roster of eight freshmen, all eight have impressive qualities to offer. Guards Lindsay Hall and Allie Williams and forward Mallory Russell hail from Ingomar High School, who won the 2017-18 Class 2A state title with a 37-1 overall record. The trio also helped the Lady Falcons and head coach Trent Adair to a 138-15 combined record in four seasons and three state titles. Specifically, Russell finished her varsity career with 1,941 total points, compiling 42 double-doubles for her varsity career, including a season-high of 10 coming as an eighth-grader.

Another notable freshman that is quite familiar with the Ingomar trio is forward Madison Pharr of New Site. Not only have the teams met every season as part of Region 1-2A, but the Lady Royals also finished as the Class 2A state runner-ups behind Ingomar. For her efforts, Pharr averaged 17.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game last season, while also collecting six double-doubles as a senior.

"These kids are good fundamentally," Edwards said, on his batch of freshmen. "They understand what you're trying to do and how you're trying to do it. They're also some pretty good kids, so hopefully we'll have everything work out with them too."

To top it off, Northwest also possesses three transfers, two from the Division I level. Ericka Richardson and Kennedy Gore join the program from Eastern Kentucky University, where Gore redshirted and Richardson fielded minimal playing time on a crowded roster. N'Keiria Larris is the third transfer in, coming from Columbia State Community College, where she averaged 3.3 points, 1.8 assists, 1.7 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, before the program was dissolved following the 2017-18 season.

Even with bringing in three players that have prior college experience, Edwards says there are still some differences to sort through before the season opener.

"All three are good kids but they also have a different style of play," Edwards said. "There are going to be situations where they will have to adjust to us and there will be some scenarios in which we will have to adjust some things as well. It will be a little different for them, but I am confident that they will adjust well and so will we."

Northwest will welcome some new opponents to the schedule for the 2018-19 season. New programs, such as SAU Tech, will debut on the Lady Rangers' schedule this season, along with formidable non-conference foes in Snead State, Mineral Area College and Arkansas State Mid-South. The Lady Rangers will also tangle with the usual MACJC North Division challengers in East Mississippi, Holmes, Itawamba and Northeast.

"I think both teams will be the most challenging," Edwards said, on facing ICC and Northeast. "I think last season ICC had the most talent, but Northeast had the best team. I think (Northeast) played together really well last year and they've got a good guard and a good inside player back this year, so I think they will be really tough again."

For Edwards, with so many new faces on the roster, the primary goal right now is to continue to improve, despite all the uncertainty ahead.

"We want to be the best that we can be at whatever level that is," Edwards said. "That's just something that's unknown at this time with a lot of new players in a new system. We're not really trying to beat anybody at this time per se, but instead we are simply focusing on what we can do. If we can just focus on that, then the wins will come."

Northwest opens the 2018-19 season at SAU Tech on Nov. 6 at 5 p.m., before hosting Blue Mountain College JV in the Howard Coliseum home opener on Nov. 8 at 5 p.m.