Five years may not seem like a long time for some people.
However, for the Odessa College women’s basketball program, it’s been an interesting journey.
In that time frame, the Lady Wranglers went from missing a tournament due to the pandemic, to a coaching change, to a pause in the action, to going from 8-18 two years ago to WJCAC champions and back in the NJCAA Women’s National Tournament.
Head coach Franqua Bedell and his players are relishing this opportunity as the Lady Wranglers are making their first tournament appearance since 2019 — Bedell’s first since taking over the program in 2020.
Odessa College (29-4) enters the tournament as the No. 7 seed and will get a first-round bye.
The tournament will begin March 26 and conclude with the championship on April 1 at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper, Wy.
The Lady Wranglers will play the winner of No. 10 seed Eastern Florida State (27-4) and No. 23 seed North Dakota SCS (27-6) in the second round at 10:15 p.m. March 27.
The Lady Wranglers have come a long way since their last tournament appearance back in 2019.
During that time span, Odessa College was selected to play in the 2020 national tournament before it was canceled due to COVID.
Then, former head coach Ara Baten left to take the same job at South Plains College.
After the program was put on hold for a season, the Lady Wranglers went 8-18 during the 2021-22 season before improving to 16-10 last year and appearing in the Region V tournament.
This season, Bedell (who was named the Western Junior College Athletic Conference Coach of the Year) and his players have gotten the program back to where they expect it to be each season.
The Lady Wranglers won a share of the WJCAC title with New Mexico Junior College and advanced to the Region V Tournament championship.
This year’s team has accomplished a lot with the help of standout players Ivana Krajina (who was named the WJCAC Player of the Year), Tia Shelling, Chelsy Bautista (WJCAC Defensive Player of the Year), as well as Mariam and Sarengbe Sanogo (who was named Co-Newcomer of the Year) just to name a few.
“I can’t say enough of how happy I am for our players and how proud I am of them for buying into the culture,” Bedell said. “It means a lot to be able to play in the region championship and then turn around and get an at-large bid for Odessa and put us rightfully back to where we should be, year in and year out. It’s a good feeling to be back in the national tournament and to be back on the national scene and to be in the national polls. I’m really excited and happy that we could do that and get us back to that point.”
The team may have lost to Collin County in the Region V championship.
However, the Lady Wranglers did more than enough to earn a bid to the biggest stage in junior college basketball.
“We didn’t guard like we’ve been guarding all year,” Bedell said of the Region V Tournament in Weatherford last week. “I thought we got a little rattled. All year long, I think the last parts of the game, with five minutes to go, we have been really good at composing ourselves and making plays. We had a bunch of shots that rolled in and out of the basket. Sometimes it’s not about the play. You’re just lucky. They did a good job of making plays and finishing. We couldn’t find a few plays down the stretch. One thing that I was proud of is that they fought. They didn’t quit. Collin is a good team and we might have a chance to see them again.”
The Lady Wranglers have won three national championships with the last one coming back in 2007.
For this year’s team to bring home a fourth trophy, it’ll take four wins throughout next week.
“I’m excited about our path,” Bedell said. “We were fortunate. This team performed well to earn a bye and that seventh seed. Our path is that you have four games to win. That’s a lot easier than playing five. I like our matchups. If we show up and be ourselves, we have a good chance to make some noise. But it all boils down to which team is going to be locked in and which team is going to be the toughest and which team is going to dial in and do what they need to do, night in and night out. That’s what it boils down to.”
Bedell is no stranger to having success in the NJCAA Tournament, having coached Tallahassee Community College to a national championship in 2018.
For him, this year’s tournament has some similarities to the one in 2018 as plenty of schools such as Wabash Valley, Northwest Florida and Trinity Valley are in this year’s bracket.
Undefeated Hutchinson Community College (32-0) is the No. 1 seed in the tournament and on the opposite side of the bracket from the Lady Wranglers.
New Mexico Junior College (26-6) is the No. 8 seed and also earned a first-round bye.
“This year’s tournament is really deep,” Bedell said. “It reminds me of the 2018 tournament. You have the Shelton States, you have the Gulf Coasts, the Wabash and Trinity Valleys. It’s a deep, deep tournament. It’s going to be fun to watch. The teams in it are going to be fun to watch. But each year, it’s the best of the best. You’re part of the best that you want to be. … It’s an amazing feeling to be the last team standing. I’ve gotten a chance to be a part of that. I’m hoping these young ladies get a chance to experience ?”
