Noel Johnson

Noel Dawn Johnson (December 1, 1972 – June 9, 2020) was an American basketball player and the head coach of the Midwestern State Mustangs women's basketball team. She played for the national championship Texas Tech Lady Raiders in 1993. Early years Johnson was a West Texas native, born in Shamrock, Texas, to Dean and Agatha Johnson, and then growing up in Kelton, Texas. During her junior year in high school, her family moved to Nazareth, Texas, where she played basketball for Nazareth High. She helped her team win two class 1-A state titles in basketball. College Johnson attended Texas Tech University and played for four years on the women's basketball team. The Lady Raiders won the Southwest Conference all four years, were invited to the NCAA postseason tournament all four years, making it at least as far as the Sweet Sixteen each year, and won the national championship in 1993. The team was coached by Marsha Sharp who would go on to be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Johnson played point guard during her four years at Texas Tech. In the first nine years that Texas Tech played in the Southwest conference, they finished second or third each year. In Johnson's freshman year, the team recorded a record of 27–5 and won the first of five consecutive conference championships. Sheryl Swoopes had transferred to Texas Tech from South Plains College, and the team went on to earn a first round bye in the NCAA tournament in 1992, then beating Santa Clara in the second round to reach the Sweet 16. They lost the next game to Stanford who went on to win the national championship that year. They ended the season ranked number 12 in the AP rankings, their highest ever ranking. In her freshman year Johnson hit 23 of her 53 point field-goal attempts resulting in a percentage of 46.0%, the highest on the team.