SFCC women’s basketball looks to carry torch into 2026-27 season

Published 3:21 am Thursday, October 29, 2026

Progress has been a step-by-step process for State Fair Community College women’s basketball.

After appearing in the national tournament in 2025, the Lady Roadrunners picked up a first-round win during last season’s trip.

Now, as the team prepares to take the court for the first time this season, head coach Nicole Collier is balancing the blueprint of past success with helping this year’s squad forge its own path in 2026-27.

“We’ve referenced several times of just, ‘This is what we brought you here to do, and this is the culture here, the foundation to build on, and it’s time to carry that torch,’” Collier, the reigning Region 16 Coach of the Year, said. “We don’t harp on last year, but there are comparisons we talk about and how we do things and how we got to where we went.”

Coming off a 29-3 season that featured its first win in the national tournament since 2010-11, State Fair earned the No. 17 spot in the NJCAA Division I Preseason Poll released Oct. 19.

This marks the second consecutive year SFCC has opened the season ranked, following last fall’s No. 23 start that saw the program climb as high as No. 6.

“I don’t really know how I feel about it,” Collier said of this year’s ranking. “It was kind of the same situation last year. I think we were in the 20s at the beginning, but I think it’s a little bit of billboard material. I feel like it’s a little bit, I don’t know, disrespectful for a team that finished sixth, but it doesn’t matter where you start, it’s how you finish. That’s how we talk to the girls, and that’s all that matters. We’ll continue to keep pushing and try to prove people wrong.”

SFCC returns five players from last year’s squad — sophomore Kamaree Pollard, redshirt sophomore Taylor Wilson, sophomore Chloe Reed, redshirt sophomore Jonise Barcene and sophomore Z’mharie Barber.

Reed anchors the group of returners after receiving an NJCAA All-American Honorable Mention nod last season.

Reed posted a team-best 15.3 points per game while shooting 46.8% from the floor and 33% from beyond the arc last season. She also averaged 4.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

“We’re still pushing Chloe to be a little bit more of a leader, more of a vocal leader,” Collier said. “But right now, whoever’s team Chloe is on in practice, they win, and that’s what I’d tell you is that she’s a winner. She finds a way to win, and she’s doing it in different ways this year, so that’s exciting — her expanding her game.”

Among the newcomers, Collier pointed to two new post pieces who have excited her.

Freshmen D’mariihanna Newton and Anna Wangia are both listed at 6-foot-4, giving the Lady Roadrunners more size in the frontcourt compared to last year.

Both players averaged a double-double in their respective senior seasons at North Kansas City and Lutheran South.

“Dee Dee Newton is a post player from North Kansas City. She’s been fun to watch,” Collier said. “She’s 6-4, long, lanky and runs the floor and does a little bit of everything. She can handle the ball, shoot it, rebound it, so she’s been fun. We’ve got another 6-4 kid, Anna Wangia from St. Louis, that’s been fun to watch.”

State Fair also brought in a pair of transfers in sophomores Electra Lovely-Tolbert and Nila Wills.

Lovely-Tolbert averaged 16.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and three assists per game as a freshman at Rend Lake College, while Wills averaged 12.6 points and 9.5 rebounds at Moberly Area Community College last year.

Wills was an All-Region 16 First Team selection.

State Fair will put it all on the court for the first time this year at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, against Triton College. This will be the third consecutive season the Lady Roadrunners have faced Triton in their home opener, with the first two matchups being split.

“I think we feel really good about ourselves,” Collier said. “A couple years ago, we played Triton and they handed it to us pretty good. They beat us by 20, but we ended up building off that and using it as momentum, so we’re hoping that’s not our learning experience this year. We’ll expect them to be athletic and fast and pressure the crap out of us. We’ll have our hands full, and I’m excited to see how we handle it.”

SFCC also hosts Southeast Community College at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31.

Watch the full interview with Collier and men’s basketball head coach Jeremy Jackson here. Sports editor Jack Denebeim can be reached at 660-530-0142.