Northwest Mississippi Community College Women's Basketball

Former Northwest men's basketball standout LaTaryl Williams (Twitter: @LATARYL) enters his fourth season leading the Lady Rangers' basketball program in 2025-26. Williams, a native of Oxford, brings 15 years of coaching experience and two previous stops in the MACCC. Williams arrived at Northwest from his most recent stint as head women's basketball coach at East Central Community College, a title he earned in 2018. Williams spent four seasons in Decatur, guiding the Lady Warriors to 43 victories and an 18-6 overall mark in 2018-19, the most wins by a first-year head coach in program history.  Williams' 2018-19 squad also cracked the NJCAA's Top 25 national rankings and he led ECCC to three NJCAA Region 23 postseason appearances, including a run to the semifinals during the 2020-21 season. He also developed nine college signees, including three student-athletes that moved on to the Division I level. Prior to his stint at East Central, Williams served as an assistant women's basketball coach at Holmes Community College from 2012-18. During his time in Goodman, he guided the Lady Bulldogs to four straight appearances in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament (2014-18). Williams took the 2015-16 Holmes squad to the Region 23 Semifinals, defeating the No. 1 tournament seed in the first round. Williams also gained a wealth of coaching and playing experience overseas, serving a one-year stint as an assistant coach in the United Kingdom for the Leicester Riders and operated a Basketball Academy at Burleigh Community College in Loughborough for nearly four years. For a decade, he also played professionally in South America and in Europe before a career-ending knee injury took him off the court. After his varsity career concluded at Oxford High School in 1996, Williams came to Northwest to play for future Hall of Fame coach Marc Dukes. During his two seasons with the Rangers, Williams helped Northwest to a combined 57-11 overall record and an appearance in the 1998 NJCAA Final Four, while earning All-MACJC, All-Region 23 and All-NJCAA Tournament accolades. Williams wrapped up his collegiate career at Ole Miss, helping the Rebels and head coach Rod Barnes to the 1999 NCAA Tournament and the 2000 National Invitational Tournament. Williams holds three degrees, including an associate's in general studies from Northwest (1998). He earned his bachelor of arts in Leisure and Sport Management from Ole Miss in 2001 and his master's in Sports Administration from the University of Northern Colorado in 2016.

An integral part of LaTaryl Williams’ coaching staff, Vaquela Pimpton enters her fourth season at Northwest in 2025-26. A native of Webb and graduate of West Tallahatchie High School, Pimpton arrived at Northwest just months after the hire of Williams, and has been the Lady Rangers’ assistant coach ever since. In her previous three seasons, she has helped Northwest to back-to-back postseason appearances. Nine players have gone on to sign with four-year programs over the past three seasons, including Mariah Reed-Jones to Jackson State University, Aaliyah Taylor to Mississippi Valley State and Zaria Glover (Jackson State/Alabama A&M). Other notable signees from Pimpton’s first three seasons include the Lane College trio of Kae’la Mitchell, McKenzie Amos and Angela Middleton, the duo of Claire Leak and Zoe Essary (MUW) and Marian Jenkins (Mississippi College). Prior to Northwest, Pimpton had a one-season stint at M.S. Palmer High School, where she served as an inclusion teacher and assistant basketball coach. Under her guidance, the Lady Dragons advanced to the MHSAA Class 2A playoffs. Pimpton had an accomplished college career, playing for Holmes Community College (2016-18) and the University of New Orleans (2018-20). During her senior season at UNO, she started 19 of the 28 games she played, averaging 4.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. She tied her career-high of 14 points against Houston Baptist and hit a pair of three-pointers in an upset victory at Ole Miss. That year, the Privateers finished with a 17-12 record and advanced to the Southland Conference Tournament, before the season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a junior, Pimpton saw action in 26 games as a junior, averaging 4.9 points per game, including a season-best 14 points against Nicholls State on March 2, 2019. At Holmes, Pimpton played under Williams and former head coach Jamiliah Johns-Andrews. She was a part of a stretch that saw the Lady Bulldogs earn 28 victories, including an 18-9 record as a sophomore that saw Holmes earn the MACJC North Division title and advance to both the MACJC Tournament and the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament. Pimpton holds an Associate of Arts in general studies from Holmes and a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of New Orleans.