COEUR d'ALENE - When North Idaho College coach Chris Carlson returned from last year's trip to the NJCAA tournament, he knew he'd need to recruit some players that could compete against the best in the nation.

With only sophomore forward Katie Sanders back from last year's team that went 1-2 at nationals, North Idaho (26-6) enters nationals as the No. 7 seed and will face Monroe Community College (20-5) of Rochester, N.Y., next Tuesday at 10 a.m. PST.

"I really like the seventh seed," Carlson said. "Last year, we drew the eighth seed and played a really good No. 9 team (Trinity Valley Community College) and then had to face Jefferson College right out of the chute."

Carlson has looked over some information on the Monroe squad, but has yet to see any game film as of Wednesday.

"I've looked over their roster and some of their box scores," Carlson said. "We don't know too much about them, but they are going to be a quick, athletic team."

Despite having a team comprised of 10 freshmen and two sophomores, Carlson feels his team is up to the task.

"Each of them has gotten a lot of good tournament experience in the past," Carlson said. "Whether it was in high school or summer ball, they've been through it. Tugce (Canitez) played a lot on the European circuits."

With the way NIC played in winning last week's Region 18 tournament as the No. 3 seed, Carlson believes his team is ready for the next step..

"Last week was the first time they had to answer a big challenge as a group," Carlson said. "To pull together and unite the way they did will be what's special about this group. Hopefully, that will carry over into next week."

Central Arizona of Coolidge, Ariz., the defending champion, is the No. 4 seed. Jefferson College of Hillsboro, Mo., is the top seed at 29-2.

"We're real familiar with Jefferson," Carlson said. "I thought we recruited toward what we need to do back there."

Among the other teams in the field, North Idaho has defeated Williston (N.D.) State College 74-57 on Nov. 28 and Casper (Wyo.) College 91-84 on Nov. 25 in nonleague games at Christianson Gym.

"There is a little bit of a confidence with our team," Carlson said. "We've beaten two of the teams in the tournament and watched Midland (the No. 3 seed) against Salt Lake. I think we've got a shot to compete."

All 26 games from the tournament will be streamed live at www.njcaa.org/tv

2010 NJCAA WOMEN'S NATIONAL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Tuesday, March 16

Times PST

Opening round

Game 1 - No. 3 Midland College (30-3) vs. No. 14 Shelton State (19-12), 8 a.m.

Game 2 - No. 6 Northern Oklahoma College (31-1) vs. No. 11 Labette Community College (31-3), 4:15 p.m.

Game 3 - No. 7 North Idaho College (26-6) vs. No. 10 Monroe Community College (20-5), 10 a.m.

Game 4 - No. 2 Gulf Coast Community College (28-1) vs. No. 15 South Georgia Technical School (28-5), noon.

Game 5 - No. 1 Jefferson College (29-1) vs. No. 16 Williston State College (17-14), 2 p.m.

Game 6 - No. 8 Trinity Valley Community College (28-5) vs. No. 9 Walters State Community College (25-2), 6:15 p.m.

Wednesday, March 17

Game 7 - No. 5 Copiah-Lincoln Community College (28-1) vs. No. 12 Casper College (31-3), 10 a.m.

Game 8 - No. 4 Central Arizona College (29-2) vs. No. 13 Lincoln Trail College (28-3), noon.