After winning five games last year, the Lady Tigers set out to improve this season. They have gone above and beyond what they had hoped.
The Lady Tigers are headed to the NCAA regional tournament for the first time Friday in Cleveland, Miss., and have a record of 21-8. The women have done this by relying on a strong group of freshman along with some seasoned veterans.
This time last week, the Lady Tigers were playing in the Gulf South Conference Tournament in Southaven, Miss. where they went 1-1.
On Wednesday, the Lady Tigers came away with a win over Montevallo 62-52, but fell on Thursday to east No. 1 seed West Georgia, 67-64. The team was unable to shoot well at the DeSoto Civic Center, shooting around 35 percent in both games, but still had a good showing.
“I thought our team played hard,” Head Coach Garry Crowder said. “West Georgia is a very talented team. It’s a game that could have gone either way.”
The Lady Tigers would have liked to win the conference championship, but will be happy with a bid to play in the regionals.
They were selected as an at-large bid and will be the seven seed, which means they will play the two seed.
The Lady Tigers will face off against Fort Valley State who is 26-4 and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champions.
“They [the team] are excited, this is a good group and they have worked hard all year long,” Crowder said.
Senior post player Haley Griffin agreed with Crowder.
“This is nothing like the years before,” Griffin said.
He feels it is a major accomplishment to have been a part of this team.
Fort Valley State will present a challenge for the Lady Tigers. They have made it to the tournament several times and know what it is like to play in it.
Fort Valley State is much like the Lady Tiger’s last opponent in the conference tournament, West Georgia. They are similar in the fact that they rely on three players. They, just like West Georgia, only have three players that average more than five points per game.
The difference is the Lady Tigers had all week to prepare for the game, where as at the conference tournament they had less than 24 hours to prepare for West Georgia.
“They [Fort Valley State] are a very talented team,” Crowder said. “They are also very athletic with good guard play and have a traditionally great program.”
“I expect we are going to have to bring our A-game and play together as a team,” Griffin said. “They are going to be a very good, skilled team, but then again so are we. It should be a good game.”
A key will be Ouachita’s ability to slow down the three big scorers for Fort Valley State, and according to Griffin the Lady Tigers’ Kim Beverly is up to the challenge.
“I think the most important thing is Kim Beverly’s defense,” Griffin said. “It really gets us going and helps and win games. Without her tenacious defense holding down the other team’s best players, we wouldn’t have won many games.”
Beverly, one of the three seniors along with Griffin and injured Kayla Hulsey, has indeed drawn tough defensive assignments every game, most notably shutting down Delta State’s Bug Cooper.
Ouachita is one of four Gulf South Conference teams that will be in the South Regional Tournament, but is happy to be on the opposite side of the bracket as the rest of the conference schools.
“We are excited about the side of the bracket we are on and that we get to play some new faces,” Crowder said.
The Lady Tigers will play Fort Valley State Friday at 1 p.m. in Cleveland, Miss. If the Lady Tigers win they will play on Saturday, and if they win Saturday, will play for an Elite 8 birth on Monday.
The game will be broadcast online at obutigers.com. Click on “Broadcasts” in the left hand column.
Richard Atkinson will have the play-by-play with Chris Babb handling color commentary.
