[1] Johnson attended Texas Tech University and played for four years on the women's basketball team.
[2] The team was coached by Marsha Sharp who would go on to be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
[4] 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.
The team earned the second seed in the West regional of the 1993 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament behind the previous year's national champion Stanford.
Those free throws were key, as Ohio State hit two three pointers in the final 10 seconds.
The team again made the NCAA tournament and reached the regional semi finals where they lost to Tennessee.
[citation needed] Johnson earned a master's degree in education at Texas State in 2002.
although she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2019 she continued to coach until January 30, 2020, and returned to the school to participate in senior day activities.
Noel Johnson is one of the most beloved players in the history of Texas Tech women's basketball.