Booneville, MS – Northeast Women's Basketball Head Coach Brian Middleton has wrapped up year one at the helm for the Lady Tigers with a spot in the MACCC playoffs.
Middleton went 11-19 in his first year with a 5-9 record in conference action to secure the 12th seed in the MACCC playoffs that sent the Lady Tigers to Meridian for the first round before finishing their 2025-26 season.
His first career win came in game one when Northeast took down Roane State in the Kragel Classic with an 81-38 win. The Lady Tigers followed that win with a pair of wins over ASU Mid-South with a 69-47 win at home followed by a 60-50 win on the road that led to a three-game win streak with wins over Blue Mountain JV (93-32) and Lawson State (68-67). At the start of the new year, Middleton helped lead his squad to a 62-50 win over Bishop State on the road to begin 2026 on top before the start of conference play.
Middleton earned his first conference win in the MACCC over Coahoma in an instant thriller that saw Northeast grab a 53-50 win. The Lady Tigers followed with a three-game win streak over Jones (51-47), Southwest (64-56), and Northwest (60-43) to climb up the standings before clinching a spot in the postseason with a 64-49 win over Mississippi Delta.
Despite the injury woes, Northeast was able to find success behind a sophomore trio led by Maniya Kirksey who averaged 16.2 points per game while shooting 46.8% from beyond the arc and was accompanied by Nakyiah Walker (12.9 points) and Christina Fulton (11.7). Joining the sophomore group was a freshman class that learned how to compete with the best in the MACCC with Baylon Middleton scoring 7.4 points while Alaysha Williams was a top tier rebounder in conference play with her last ten games hauling in 9+ rebounds.
Under Middleton in year one, Northeast led the MACCC in three-pointers made with 157 on the year with two Lady Tigers breaking the single season record of made threes with Kirksey sinking 51 and Baylon Middleton setting the new record at 57. Northeast also finished the season as one of the top shot blocking teams in the conference with 3.7 blocks per game as a unit.