SWAC WOMEN
Mississippi Valley: Underdogs Win
Big, beat Southern For SWAC Title
SWAC Smallest School May Close its Doors this Fall
Mississippi Valley has always
had to battle the odds for its very
survival.
Valley's women basketball team
entered the Southwestern Athletic
Conference as a big underdog. The
Delta Devilettes were only expected
to last one game in the tournament.
Surprise.
Valley, the smallest school in the
the campus.
"Didn't too many people give us
much of a chance," Harris said.
"This demonstrates that our
young people can rise to a higher
level," Valley president Dr. William
Sutton said. "This does a lot for our
morale for our students. It is great
winning this under those type of cir
cumstances. We want to send a mes
sage to everybody that Valley is a
J" W<? came in here with a positive attitude, We- wanted
to take Southern out of its game so we could have a
chance to win."
? Donna White
Southwestern Athletic Conference,
won the league's biggest prizes
. Valley; a school that has always'
battled large odds, didn't let being
sixth-seeded bother it in a 72-68 vic
tory over top-seeded Southern in the
SWAC tournament championship.
Donna White, named the tourna
ment's most valuable player, scored
28 points and grabbed U rebounds
in leading Valley to its first confer
ence championship since the 1986
87 season.
"We came in here with a positive
attitude," White said. "We wanted to
take Southern out of its game so we
could have a chance to win."
Although White carried the Dev
ilettes the majority of the game, she
got help from Vanessa Harris and
Demetriss Brown. Harris finished
with 14 points and Brown added 10.
"Donna deserved the MVP
award," Harris said. "She showed
out, baby."
Winning the championship
stretches beyond the basketball court
for Valley, a 2,200 student college
located in the Mississippi Delta.
In October the Mississippi State
College Board has proposed to close
the school.
Valley coach Jesse Harris said
the win should boost morale around
competitive school." ? ?
Southern got the message loud
and clear.
Valley trailed 55-54 with 8:39 to
^lay, but White's layup with 7:54
gave the Devilettes the leadtbr good
at 56-55.
"Coming into the arena we heard
the. Southern players say we were no
competition," White said. "Coming
in the sixth-seeded and beating the
No. 1 seed is great. We were the
underdogs."
Since the SWAC didn't have an
automatic^ bid for women's basket
ball, Valley ended its season at 11-17
record. Southern, the regular season
co-champion with Alcorn State,
ended its season 20-7 under first
year coach Herman Hartman.
"They outplayed us," said Hart
man, who was a highly successful
boys high school basketball coach
before taking the Southern job. "We
were a little nervous and made some
mistakes at some crucial times."
Valley had a 34-24 lead at half
time, but Southern made an earlier
second half run to tie the game at 40
40 with 14:30 remaining.
"We kept saying this game is not
over," Harris said.
Upstart Valley reached the finals
|77//\ may he the last game for / \rica Scott
eventhongh she's only a freshman]
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after knocking off Texas Southern
74-63 in the semifinals. The Lady
De^ilettes beat Grambling State 64
56 in the first round.
Harris can't take full credit for
his team's march through the SWAC
tournament.
Texas Southern was coming off a
big 90-88 overtime win over two
time defending champion Alcorn
State the day before in the semifi
nals.
"I listgnto players, but the final
decision is always mine," $aid Har
ris. "I take into consideration what
they have to say/'
? By Derrick Mahone