The Northwest Lady Rangers hoisted the NJCAA national tournament trophy above their heads after a title match win over Johnson County Community College capped off a dream season.
For the first time in program history, James Beattie’s side was ranked No. 1 in the preseason NJCAA rankings. Often, top-ranked teams fail to meet preseason expectations across the span of a long college campaign. But the Lady Rangers exceeded them.
Northwest rumbled through the regular season in dominating fashion, thrashing opponents by a combined score of 75-9. Two convincing wins in the Region 23 Tournament over No. 19 Itawamba and No. 5 Holmes cemented themselves as the national title favorites, again faced with soaring expectations.
The Lady Rangers were up to the task once more, winning four straight matches and allowing just one goal on the way to their first national championship. The final win of a perfect 22-0 season came against the Johnson County Lady Cavaliers, the team that eliminated Northwest in the national tournament a season ago.
After marching through the 2024 campaign unscathed, Northwest becomes the first NJCAA Division II program to win a national championship and finish the season without a loss since Phoenix College accomplished the feat in 2020. The Lady Rangers also captured the rare triple crown of a MACCC championship, NJCAA Region 23 championship, and national title.
A basket full of single season and career records were set by those that led Beattie’s team to the title. Goalkeeper Anny Kathryn Harrell concluded her dazzling career in Senatobia as the program leader in total wins (38), shutouts (29), goals against average (0.37), and save percentage (.904).
Other individuals on a long list of superlatives include sophomore Penny Warner etching herself into the record books as the sixth-most prolific single-season goal scorer in school history with 24, sophomore Mari Julia Delgado notching 12 assists on the season for the fifth-highest program mark, and freshman Emma Jensen averaging the second-highest average of goals per match at 1.00.
In five years under Beattie, Northwest has now won two MACCC titles, back-to-back NJCAA Region 23 championships, and the fitting crown jewel of a national championship.
