Coming out of halftime with a 30-29 lead, the Garry Crowder coached Lady Tigers were 20 minutes away from Ouachita’s first ever visit to the Elite Eight. The Lady Tigers opened the second half of the NCAA Division II South Championship on a 12-4 scoring run, increasing their hopes of defeating the Delta State Lady Statesmen and playing in San Antonio the following week for the National Quarterfinals.
“We basically held the lead the entire game,” Crowder said, as he recalls the 2009 Sweet Sixteen game.
As the game went deeper into the second half, the Lady Statesmen climbed back, and with less than one minute to play, the teams were tied at 48. Ouachita’s A’Laeshia Adams drew a foul on the next possession to go to the free-throw line with 38 seconds left. Adams was Ouachita’s hero three days earlier when she scored 26 points to lead the Lady Tigers to their first NCAA Division II tournament win in school history. In front of 1,350 people inside of Walter Sillers Coliseum, Delta State’s home arena, Adams stepped to the stripe with a chance to give her Lady Tigers a two-point lead. After netting the first, she shot the second, but it was long, and Delta State took possession.
With 13.8 seconds remaining, the Lady Statesmen took a timeout to set up their final chance at victory. After setting up the play, Delta State’s LaMeasha McAdory got the call. McAdory’s shot missed, but she grabbed her own rebound and tried another jumper as the shot clock expired. Her second attempt was off the mark, as well, but Courtney Wilson scored a put back with 7.2 seconds remaining, giving the Lady Statesmen the 50-49 lead. In desperation, Adams drove the length of the court for Ouachita, traveled along the baseline and heaved up a one-handed floater. The ball sailed long, however, and Delta State stole the victory and a chance at the Elite Eight.
“It was a heartbreaking loss. I mean, we had the game won,” Crowder said. “We would have been in the Elite Eight, and we believe we would have won at least one of the games in the Elite Eight that year.” Despite the loss, Crowder considers the game one of the most unforgettable games of his career.
“That has to be a memorable moment. That team, and that run.” During the tournament, the seventh-seeded Lady Tigers defeated the second-seeded Fort Valley State, the 18th ranked team in Division II. Ouachita then pulled out a win against number three-seed and 25th ranked Tampa, before losing to the one seed and 24th ranked Delta State, ending the greatest year in Ouachita Lady Tiger Basketball history.
Fast-forward five years to Bethany, Oklahoma. Crowder and his Lady Tigers are in Southern Nazarene’s Sawyer Center for a Great American Conference matchup. Despite trailing by five at halftime, the Lady Tigers outscore Southern Nazarene by 15 in the second half to grab the 71-61 win. The victory helps Ouachita as they try to claim a spot in the GAC Championship Tournament. The victory means much more than a playoff spot, however. For senior guard Nashia James, the game allows her to score her 1,000th point as a Lady Tiger. On top of that, OBU’s victory over Southern Nazarene on February eighth was Crowder’s 700th win as a women’s basketball head coach.
Now, rewind 35 years to the square mile of Taylor, Arkansas, otherwise known as the origin of Mr. 700. Crowder, the 1978 Henderson State graduate, began his coaching career at Taylor High School in 1979.
“Taylor had really good girls basketball,” said Crowder, “and they were needing a coach when I finished college. Dr. Mickey O’Quinn, who was the head of the kinesiology department at Henderson, recommended me for that job.” At Taylor, Crowder posted a 65-36 record in three years, winning at least 20 games in all three seasons.
In 1982, Crowder moved to Jessieville High School where he coached for 13 years.
“I had some brilliant young players. God blessed me with some great talent.” During his tenure, Crowder’s record was 339-73, including 11 conference championships, nine district tournament titles and seven regional tournament championships. With a high school coaching record of 404-109 and a winning percentage of 78.8, Crowder began searching for a coaching job at the collegiate level.
“I had always had a desire to coach in college,” Crowder explained. “[Ouachita] felt that I was the best candidate, I guess, and, lucky for me, I got the job.”
Crowder began at Ouachita in the 1995-96 season, and he set a school record with 18 wins in his very first year. Also during the year, Crowder’s squad defeated national powerhouse Arkansas Tech at home.
“I remember Dr. Elrod coming down in the locker room with Coach Vining, and they, you know, did one of those Gatorade baths on me… Down in the locker room.”
Building off his first season, Crowder established Ouachita as one of the best Division II women’s basketball programs in the region. In his 18 seasons, the Lady Tigers have participated in post-season play 11 times and have played in the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament twice. Crowder has re-established Ouachita’s single-season wins record four times since setting it in his first year, the 2008-09 season still holding the record with 23 wins. Crowder’s 700th win as a coach was his 296th at Ouachita, giving him a record of 296-221 as the Lady Tigers’ head coach.
Despite so much success, Crowder insists the players are the reason for his decorated career.
“There are two things if you have coached long enough to win 700 games. It means I am old, and I have coached a lot of good players. Players win games, and I have been blessed with a lot of good talent.”
“Ouachita is wonderful place to work,” Crowder said as he explained what has kept him in Arkadelphia. “I’m around people that have the same value system that I have. We love living in Arkadelphia. We love where we go to church. This is where we have made home, and that is why I have stayed 19 years.”
As the longest tenured collegiate women’s basketball coach in Arkansas, Crowder has no plans of retiring any time soon.
“I have been able to coach a lot of really quality people, in addition to some outstanding basketball players. And that is more than the wins. It’s the relationships, the friends you make and the people you meet. And so I have no plans to retire any time in the next few years, and I will be 58 in March.”
Crowder was honored for his 700th win after earning his 701st win at Bill Vining Arena on February 20th. He is currently only one win shy of his 300th win as the head coach of the Ouachita Lady Tigers.
By: Brandon Smith
