COLORADO SPRINGS, Co. - The Northampton women's basketball team is the new #1 team in the country according to the NJCAA Division III poll released today by the national office. 

The Spartans, under the direction of long-time mentor Art Wolfe, took over the top spot after after previous number one, Rock Valley Community College (the defending national champion) lost two games over the weekend.

Northampton, now 7-0 after Tuesday night's 68-38 victory over Montgomery County Community College, become NCC's first-ever #1 ranked team.  "It is a great accomplishment for Coach Wolfe, his staff and their players," commented Director of Athletics Troy Tucker, "but it is also a huge thrill for our entire department and the college as a whole ... to be ranked #1 shows that your program has earned respect on a national-level, and for that to have happened so quickly here is a testament to our coaches, staff and student-athletes."

The women's basketball team had been ranked as high as #2 on two different occasions, last week and also back in November of 2010.  Men's Basketball, Volleyball, Softball and Baseball have also each held top-10 national rankings.

View the entire NJCAA Division III national poll here: https://www.njcaa.org/sports_polls.cfm?category=Polls&sid=25&divid=3&slid=11