Women’s basketball team advances to postseason play for first time in three years

The Hill College women’s basketball team defeated Ranger College, 74-56, on Saturday to advance to postseason play for the first time since 2023.

Rebels Head Women’s Basketball Coach Antreanna Brooks, along with long-time assistant coach Tamia Hewitt, will take their talented team to the NJCAA Region 5 Women’s Basketball Tournament March 11 in Odessa.

“At the beginning of the year, this team set two primary goals: to win more games than we did last season; and to finish in the top four to earn a spot at regionals,” Brooks said. “They believed in those goals and put in the work to achieve them. I’m incredibly proud that they now get to see their hard work pay off."

Hill College will face top-seeded Clarendon College in the opening round of the Region 5 tournament Wednesday beginning at 7 p.m. in the Odessa College Sports Center. Clarendon College (27-1) is also ranked No. 8 in the country.

“Clarendon is a well-rounded team from their guard play to their strong presence in the paint,” Brooks added.

Hill College (18-12, 9-7) continued to battle all season vying for one of only four regional playoff spots in a talented North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference. Also, according to the final Texas Top 10 poll on the season (released March 2), the Rebels are ranked No. 10 in the standings.

 This locker room truly believes in one another,” Brooks said. “Through both the highs and the lows, that belief has never wavered. Our conference is extremely competitive from top to bottom, and every game presents a new challenge where anything can happen. Texas is one of - if not, the best - states for junior college women’s basketball, and we are honored and grateful to be among the top programs competing here."

Throughout the 2025-26 season, the Rebels experienced both the highs and lows of conference play.

About midway through conference play, Hill College suffered a 79-77 defeat by Southwest Christian College. However, the team rebounded with a tremendous 70-68 win over Collin County Community College Feb. 21 in Denton.

"I believe our team experienced the most growth during that stretch between those two games,” Brooks said. “After a tough road loss at SWCC, we responded by going on the road and earning a win against nationally ranked Collin. During that time, our players took a lot of ownership of their mistakes and recognized that we weren’t playing to our standard, which ultimately helped us grow as a team."

Statistically, Hill College finished ninth overall (out of 20 teams) in the Region 5 team rankings.

Conference leaders for the Rebels included sophomore guard Kia Goynes who finished sixth after averaging 13.5 points per game. Freshman forward Kamarie Hardeman was 10th with a 44.5 field goal percentage, freshman guard Ava Batty came in second in three-point percentage (36.4), and sophomore guard Journee Chambers finished second with 180 assists.

“We have the ability to score in a variety of ways from multiple players, and we have a true floor general in Journee who does an excellent job controlling the game,” Brooks added. “Our team plays a very unselfish style of basketball. Coach Hewitt does an outstanding job with individual workouts, emphasizing game speed and game-like shots while consistently ensuring that what we work on in those individual workouts translates to game situations." 

For more information on the Hill College women’s basketball program, please visit https://hillcollegeathletics.com.