NJCAA represented in NCAA DI Tourney
Charlotte, NC - The thrilling 2022 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament took the floor on March 16 and 17 as the first four play-in games took flight. The first round of the tournament kicks off Friday, March 18 as 68 teams chase history and a national title. The NJCAA is highlighting notable female alumni that continued their success at the four-year level, including 41 student-athletes and 36 coaches across 40 teams.
2022 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament Schedule and Bracket
Gulf Coast State's (FL) women's basketball program sees four former student-athletes playing in the NCAA Tourney, including Naomi Mbandu (2018-20) of No. 8 Miami (FL), Ahlana Smith (2019-20) of No. 1 Louisville (KY), Alexus Dye (2017-19) of No. 4 Tennessee, and D'asia Gregg (2019-20) of No. 5 Virginia Tech. Smith was named the 2019-20 NJCAA Division I Women's Player of the Year after leading the Commodores to a 23-5 record and an at-large berth into the NJCAA Tournament as a No. 5 seed. For the Volunteers, Dye was named to the SEC All-Tournament Team and prior to time on the four-year stage, captured the 2019 NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship and tournament MVP award.
Rebekah Dallinger for No. 9 Kansas State attended Miles (MT) for the 2020-21 season where she earned the 2021 NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Player of the Year award after a No. 18 seed in the tournament. A guard for the Cats, Dallinger is the first student-athlete in program history from Australia and made her K-State debut against Central Arkansas (11/9/21), recording 11 points en route to a win. For the first time since the 2018-19 season, the program was awarded an at-large bid into the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Associate head coach Brian Ostermann and assistant coach Ebony Haliburton also have NJCAA roots, Ostermann as a head coach at Missouri State-West Plains and a head coach at Colby (KS), and Haliburton as a former student-athlete at Cowley (KS). This is the program's 17th NCAA Tournament appearance in school history and the fourth under the direction of head coach Jeff Mittie.
No. 5 Oregon's Chanaya Pinto played at Northwest Florida State from 2019-21 where she won the 2021 NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship with the Raiders, scoring 19 points. In her sophomore season, Pinto started all 26 games and was named NJCAA Second Team All-American, FCSAA/Region VIII All-State, All-Panhandle Conference, and to the NJCAA All-Tournament Team. 2022 marks the fifth straight NCAA Tournament bid for the Ducks and the program owns a 12-4 record in the tournament since 2017.
Four NJCAA alumni hail from Trinity Valley (TX) including Tra'Dayja Smith (2017-19) for No. 16 Longwood (VA), Tiya Douglas (2019-20) for No. 7 Ole Miss, Taiyanna Jackson (2019-21) for No. 8 Kansas, and Jnaya Walker (2018-19) for No. 7 Central Florida. Longwood's Smith was named the Big South Tournament MVP, Big South All-Tournament Team, and All-Big South Honorable Mention and the Lancers are in the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever. Douglas and the Rebels are dancing for the first time since 2007 after receiving an at-large bid, the Jayhawks and Jackson earned an at-large bid to the 2022 Tourney, their first since 2013, and the Knights and Walker take the big stage for the third time in the last four years after an automatic bid.
The Rebels not only have Douglas on the roster, but they are led by head coach Yolett Mcphee-McCuin and associate head coach Shay Robinson. From 2004-05, McPhee McCuin was an assistant coach at Frank Phillips (TX) and also played basketball at Miami Dade from 2000-02. Robinson served as an assistant coach at Eastern Florida State before coaching at Kansas and Maryland. Coach Yo, as she is often called, was named the Rebels' ninth head coach on April 4, 2018, the first black female head coach in Ole Miss women's basketball history.
The NJCAA also has coaching greats represented on teams like No. 10 Arkansas, No. 2 Texas, No. 6 Georgia, No. 11 Dayton, No. 2 Baylor, and many more.
The 2022 NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship tournament is being held March 14-19 at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock, TX with 24 teams competing. For more, visit: 2022 NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship Home
