Northampton Community College Team Ranked No. 1

The Lehigh Mountain Hawks men are no longer the only hometown college basketball team getting national attention.

On Wednesday, the Northampton Community College Spartans womens basketball team ascended to the number one ranking in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III poll.

The undefeated Spartans, now 7-0, claimed the top national ranking after defending champion Rock Valley College of Illinois lost two games over this last weekend. It is the first time a Northampton Community College team has ever claimed a No. 1 national ranking.

"It is a great accomplishment for Coach [Art] Wolfe, his staff and their players," said Troy Tucker, NCC’s Director of Athletics. "But it is also a huge thrill for our entire department and the college as a whole ... to be ranked number one shows that your program has earned respect on a national level.”

The team includes one player from Bethlehem, Jahnna Salazar, a 6-foot-tall sophomore center and Liberty High School graduate.

The Spartans next play tonight at Broome Community College in Binghamton, N.Y. Their next home game at the Arthur L. Scott Spartan Center is 1 p.m. Saturday against Harrisburg Community College.