AWC Women’s Basketball has sights set on a return to the NJCAA Tournament

After a successful campaign last season, the Lady Matadors hope to return to the tournament in March

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) - The Arizona Western Matadors Women's Basketball team is preparing for another season under Head Coach Chelsea Dewey, and they have their sights set on a return to the NJCAA Tournament.

Last year, the Lady Mats finished 26-5, reaching the second round of the NJCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, but sophomore Mable Doumbia, Coach Dewey and the rest of the team have their sights set higher.

"This season is going to be great. We have a good team. I expect we will go far. We will go to the national, and I hope we win the national," Doumbia said.

The third-year coach, witch Coach of the Year honors has the same vision for AWC.

"We want to repeat what we did last year and we're chasing that even though everyone's new," Dewey said. "I'm really excited for this brand new team because there's a lot of young players that are very talented."

While critics may say a young team won't be able to compete at a high enough level to be successful, freshman guard Kimora Jenkins believes the team's youth brings opportunities.

"We can learn a lot from each other, even the mistakes since we're so new," Jenkins said.

To make sure the young Matadors keep progressing and are ready to play, Coach Dewey might turn up the intensity.

"It seems like she's really hard, but she wants the best for you, so I mean what comes with that is a lot of learning, a lot of learning outside of basketball as well, like how to deal with things in life and stuff," Jenkins said. "She has a lot of basketball knowledge, and it's good that she teaches that and brings it to us."

Because there are so many new faces on the team, their identity is going to change. Last year, the Matadors shot over 35% from three-point range, but this year, the goal is to get to the rack.

"Our bread and butter is going to be getting to the cup a little bit, and hopefully we get some fouls and really dominate the board," Coach Dewey said. "We're going to do whatever this team needs to do to win basketball games, so I'm going to find the right pieces to get on the floor so we can do that."

The work on the court will only get you so far, which is why having good chemistry on and off the hardwood is so important.

"Our chemistry is pretty funny. Off the court, we're really always together and stuff like that," Jenkins said. "We're good at communicating with each other on what we need from each other to get better."

Despite their youth, the Arizona Western Lady Matadors will use their relentless work ethic, talent and chemistry to build on last year's success and make another run in the NJCAA tournament.