SENATOBIA – After eight seasons as assistant women's basketball coach, the Troy Howell era will officially begin next week for the Northwest Lady Rangers.

Howell was formally announced in August as the program's new head coach following a 32-year stint from Don Edwards, who retired in June.

"I learned a lot from him," Howell said, on his time spent with Edwards. "I learned that sometimes you have to let the kids be the kids. You do a lot of your coaching in practice and the game takes care of itself. We try to keep it simple with the basics and I think I learned a lot from that."

Joining Howell's staff this season is former Ole Miss standout and Mississippi native Carla Bartee. With nearly a decade of experience playing professionally overseas, Bartee arrives at Northwest with a wealth of experience that is sure to strengthen an already talented sophomore core.

"We are excited that she is with our program," Howell said. "She has played in the SEC, so she knows what it takes to be a great basketball player. Our players like her and each day that has gone by, our team continues to get better because of her."

Although last season's 8-14 overall record didn't look great on paper, the Lady Rangers fell victim to five losses by a margin of five points or less. Three of those came in consecutive division battles to Holmes, Itawamba and Coahoma.

It's close results like those that Howell hopes will be flipped in his favor this season.

"There wasn't necessarily a lack of discipline but we are trying to instill more discipline and accountability in our team," Howell said. "Some of those games we lost because we were out of shape or for whatever else we had going on. That being said, the kids have come in with a good attitude this year and they are working hard. Every day we are getting better and our goal is to be better than we were the day before. Those sophomores remember how it felt to lose those games, so the effort is working now to make sure we don't let that happen again."

Four of the Lady Rangers' top six scorers return from last season, led by guard Lindsay Hall. The Ingomar native paced Northwest with 9.6 points, 2.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game while starting in 20 of 22 contests. A dangerous threat from beyond the arc, Hall led the team with 51 three-pointers and finished second in every other scoring category.

Behind Hall lies former Ingomar teammate Mallory Russell, a driving force in the paint. In 15 starts, Russell finished third in scoring average (9.6 ppg), second in field goal percentage (49.7) and first in rebound average (7.0 rpg) while also leading the team in blocks with 24 total, good for an average of 1.1 per game.

Tunstall and Sykes also form a lethal combination for the Lady Rangers entering their respective sophomore seasons. Despite earning just four starts, Sykes averaged 5.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, while Tunstall averaged 5.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and a team-leading 3.5 assists per game. In 12 starts, Tunstall also scored in double figures three times, including a career-best 16 points against East Mississippi.

I'esha Mosby, Claire Fleming, Madison Pharr and Allie Williams round out the returning faces for the Lady Rangers and all four gained quality minutes and valuable experience for the season ahead.

Overall, Howell is impressed with the growth of his sophomore class between February and the start of this season.

"Tunstall is like a completely different player," Howell said. "Lindsay Hall shot almost 40 percent from three-point range, but that isn't good enough for her. She's working to become even better. Mallory is getting up and down the floor even more and Tamarah Sykes is one of the most athletic players on our roster. That one year of experience at the JUCO level is going to make a huge difference for our entire sophomore group this year."

Joining the fold are a pair of sophomore transfers in Sarah Berryman (Itawamba) and Kayla Freeman (Christian Brothers University). At ICC, Berryman logged action in 25 games under legendary coach Nanci Gray, averaging 1.9 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game off the bench. Freeman, a product of Memphis East HS, played in seven games for CBU, totaling 1.4 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.6 steals per game.

"When she is on the floor, she takes over," Howell said, on Berryman. "Her and Kayla are both program-changers. They make me a better coach and they make us that much better as a team. Whether we're on offense or defense, both of them are involved and I think that their leadership mixed in with our returning players this season just makes our team that much stronger."

While this year's squad is more sophomore-heavy than in recent memory, the freshmen class has also been doing its part in the preseason. Zanaiyah Daniel, Morgan Hodum and Taylor Fletcher arrive from perennial Northeast Mississippi programs in Blue Mountain, Kossuth and Pine Grove. Cloe Messer also comes in as the program's only out-of-state freshman, hailing from Dyersburg, Tenn.

Although the Lady Rangers possess an overwhelming level of talent, no victory will come easy. MACJC South Division foes Southwest Mississippi, Hinds, Pearl River and Mississippi Gulf Coast dot the early portion of the schedule, while battles with Mineral Area, ASU Mid-South, Baton Rouge and Dyersburg State also loom large. On top of that, Northwest will once again be in the shuffle of a tough North Division that includes the likes of Itawamba, Northeast and East Mississippi.

"This may be the toughest schedule we have since I have been here," Howell said. "We have some real contenders on our schedule this season. There are no cupcakes this year and our sophomores understand the challenge that lies ahead. We are going to have an opportunity early in the year to measure just how good we really are and what we will need to do to become better in time for division play."

Northwest will open the season on Tuesday, Nov. 5 against Southwest Mississippi at 5 p.m. from Howard Coliseum.