World Exposure Report poll

Northwest Florida State WBB Top-Ranked Team in Preseason Poll

NICEVILLE, Fla. – The Northwest Florida State College women’s basketball team has been tabbed as the top team in the nation by World Exposure Report in the publication’s annual Preseason NJCAA DI Women’s Basketball Top 25 poll.

The Raiders are coming off a 27-4 campaign in 2019-20 in which the team won the Panhandle Conference and the FCSAA/Region VIII Tournament title.

Northwest Florida State’s roster includes NJCAA All-American Chanaya Pinto, who was ranked No. 5 in World Exposure Report’s Juco Top 25, and guard Masengo Mutanda, who came in at No. 20. Pinto and Mutanda join two other key returners in Laura Taylor and Kynadi Kuykendoll. NWF also boasts two of the nation’s top freshmen in Last-Tear Poa (Melbourne, Australia) and Inès Piper (Paris, France).

As head coach Bart Walker heads into his sixth season, World Exposure Report declares “Northwest Florida has all the pieces to make a run to win the National Championship and it would be tough to find anyone that would argue.”

Northwest Florida State is one of three Panhandle schools in the poll, topping Gulf Coast (No. 4) and Chipola (No. 7).

For more information on Northwest Florida State athletics, visit NWFRaiders.com or follow us on Twitter at @NWF_Raiders.