The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team is making some noise in the NJCAA national polls, cracking the Top 25 at number 25 after capturing their 9th straight victory over the weekend.
The Cougars, who were last in the ranking to end the 2021-22 season at No. 4, made a return to the rankings with their 12-1 record after the NJCAA polls were released Monday afternoon.
WNCC freshman Kiley Smich said the national rankings mean a lot for the Cougar women as they get prepared to face Laramie County Community College at 5 p.m. Thursday to wrap up the first semester.
"It (the ranking) means a lot because it shows how all the work we have all put into this season so far and we have so much more to prove," the freshman from Littleton, Colorado, said.
The ranking will make the team more focused as they head into Thursday's contest and Smich said they are not going to overlook LCCC.
"We have already beaten LCCC once, but that shouldn't be any reason to underestimate them this week," she said. "If we play like we have been and give it our all, we should be all set for this game."
The Cougars have some quality wins in the last two weeks as they beat perennial national power Casper College 75-69 and then topped then No. 11-ranked College of Southern Idaho 82.77. Last weekend, the Cougars defeated previously unbeaten Williston State 71-59 and then wrapped up the tourney in Gillette, Wyoming, with a 91-45 win over Dawson Community College and then a 69-40 win over Miles Community College.
"As a team we have been playing very well," Smich said. "We all have individual strengths that have led us to these wins."
And a big reason for the 12-1 record and the 9-game win streak is the versatility of the team as five different players have led the team in scoring over the win streak. Last week, Helena Kuck tallied 18 points in the Williston win, while Keyla Cervantes had 18 points in the Dawson win. Amiyah Donaldson tallied 23 points in the Miles win.
"Our team is very deep," Smich said. "We have different players who step up every night making our team hard to predict."
Not only that, the Cougars are playing well defensively. WNCC has had seven games where they have held their opponent to under 60 points. WNCC is the top Region IX team in the team defensive national statistics at 55th and averaging 58.2 points a contest. On the flipside, the Cougars are 25th offensively in the nation, averaging 77.2 points a contest.
Individually, Laura Montiel is 27th in the nation in defensive steals with 34, while Faith Walker is 43rd in rebounding with 97 boards and 45th in blocks with 15.
The polls this week see no movement among the top 10 teams. Northwest Florida State College holds down the top spot with a 12-0 record followed by Collin County Community College (11-0), Butler Community College-Kansas (12-0), Gulf Coast State College (11-1), and New Mexico Junior College (10-3) to round out the top five.
The second five begins with Wabash Valley College (8-1) followed by Pensacola State College (12-0), Trinity Valley Community College (9-2), McLennan Community College (9-3), and Three Rivers Community College (11-2).
The College of Southern Idaho, who the Cougars beat, is now 17th in the polls.
NJC, who was previously ranked, fell out of the polls after falling to North Platte Community College last weekend.