Lady Braves made history with titles
ARRIVING FROM MISSISSIPPI—The Lady returning from national basketball tourna-
Broves, escorted by Murfreesboro police, or- ment competition In Senotobio, Mississippi,
rived at Helms Center to be greeted by the first time ever a Chowan team w/as
students, faculty and fans. The group v/as represented.
Compete in NJCAA tournament
The Chowan Lady Braves, with
Coach McKeel, were greeted with
thundering cheers and ap
plause when they returned from
thier first trip ever to the National
NJCAA Women’s Tournament in
Senatobia, Mississippi.
The Lady Braves, escorted by
local police officers, arrived at
Helms Center for the “welcome
home” program which was broad
cast live on Mufreesboro’s radio
station.
McKeel’s squad gained entrance
to the national tournament by win
ning the conference regular season
title, the conference tournament
championship and the Region X
crown. The Lady Braves had little
difficulty in defeating Orange
County Community College in the
opening round of the national
classic, but suffered defeat at the
hands of the much taller Crowder
Community College team the
following night.
Members of the 1984-85 Lady
Braves were: Valerie Boyd,
Matisha Brown, Lisa Christian,
Glenda Dailey, Beth Dodge, An
drea Gilliam, Sharon Gillard,
Teresa Hinton, Wanda Liverman,
Wilhelmena McClease, Ava Karen
McClure, Sue Morrison, Kelly
Myers, and Cleo Roberson.
Mayor Speaks
Dr. Hargus Taylor, Chaplain to
the College, presided at the
welcome home celebration. The
Honorable Billy Hill, Mayor of
Murfreesboro, praised the team for
the significant accomplishments
made during the season, and ex
pressed genuine appreciation for
the Lady Braves '“putting Chowan
and Murfreesboro on the map” and
gaining national recognition.
Dr. Bruce E. Whitaker, Presi
dent of the College, thanked the
team and coach for a job “well
done”, and added that the per
formance and accomplishments of
the Lady Braves would serve only
to “further strengthen the athletic
programs at Chowan College.”
Athletic Director James Gar
rison praised Coach McKeel, who
is completing her first year of
coaching responsibilities at the col
lege. Garrison pointed out that
McKeel began her duties
sometime after the opening of
school last August, and said that
she had “done a magnificent job”
in taking over the team and
guiding the squad to the national
tournament.
Coach McKeel expressed ap
preciation for the “welcome
home” celebration and introduced
the members of the squad. She told
of the player’s determination to
win Jind cited the many occasions
when individual players would not
allow personal injuries to put them
on the sidelines. McKeel related
the disappointment experienced in
losing the second game to Crowder
College, but said the team would
like to reflect upon “the ac
complishments of the season”.
In closing moments of the
celebration. Dr. Taylor cited the
championship banners obtained by
the men’s basketball squad, and
which are on display in Helms
Center. He said that the college
community is proud that banners
won by the women’s team will now
be proudly displayed.
After jumping to a 16-2 margin in
the first seven minutes of their
opening game, Chowan's Lady
Braves rode to a 29 point perfor
mance by center Matisha Brown to
an 89-51 runaway win over Orange
County Community College at the
junior college women’s national
tournament in March.
Orange County’s Lady Colts
from Middletown, New York, were
unable to hold Brown and Sharon
Gillard in check as the two swept
the boards at both ends of the court
and scored almost at will against
the Lady Colts.
Gillard grabbed a season high 16
rebounds and led numerous
Chowan fast breaks in concert with
Brown to intimidate the Lady
Colts. The inside defensive threat
of Chowan forced Orange County
to take bad shots and outside
pressure by Chowan’s guards
caused the Lady Colts to turn the
ball over numerous times.
The Lady Braves led by as many
as 44 points in fhe second half, con
tinuing to build on its sizeable first
half lead. Brown scored nine points
in the first ten minutes of the game
and Gillard controlled the boards,
picking up nine rebounds in the
hrsthalf.
Brown picked up her 96th block
ed shot of the year and would pick
up number 99 during the second
half.
Buckets by Willie McClease,
Gillard, and Wanda Liverman pav
ed the way for a 44 point lead with
nine minutes left in the game,
76-32. Coach Belinda McKeel pull
ed her starters with seven minutes
left in the game and Orange Coun
ty was able to score 15 points in the
waning minutes of the game
against the Chowan substitutes.
The Chowan benoh provided
offensive assistance in the closing
minutes and added 11 points to the
78-36 point lead handed to them by
the Lady Braves’ starting five.
Second Game
In the second game of the
NJCAA women’s tournament, the
Lady Braves faced a much taller
team than they encountered in
previous matches.
Crowder Community College
boasted players between 6’ and
6’4” and had the distinction of
knocking off Moberrly Junior Col
lege, which had been in the top
rankings of national basketball
circles for several years.
In facing the strong Crowder
squad, the Lady Braves “went out
and played their game”. The lead
changed hands numerous times
during the contest, with the Lady
Braves going into the locker room
at halftime with a lead.
The second half saw a “settled
down” Crowder squad, with the
battle evenly fought until 2 minutes
remained in the contest.
Trailing by 2 points, the Lady
Braves began to agressively
charge for the ball and committed
several fouls which accounted for
the 10 point deficit at the end of the
contest.
Niel Welbom, sports information
officer, accompanied the team to
the Mississippi tournament and
reported that other teams took
notice of the Lady Braves. Many
tournament watchers, according
to Welbom, felt the Chowan squad
was one of the better teams seen in
Howard Coliseum in Senatobia,
this year.
According to Welbom, the team
enjoyed its trip to the NCJCAA
tournament and had support at the
opening round.
Enrichment week
in science slated
The Chowan Department of
Science will sponsor its third an
nual Science Enrichment Week
June 17-21 for students currently
enrolled in grades 6-9.
Noted Jim Dewar, the coor
dinator, “the participants will use
Camp Hall science laboratories to
do experiments. New laboratory
sessions in physical science,
biological science, and computer
science are being planned.”
Dewar said the day student pro
gram will be held from 8 a. m. to 4
p. m. and is designed for 15
students in each of two groups:
grades 6-7 and 8-9. Each group will
participate in three laboratory ses
sions each day.
The instructors will be science
professors Dr. Garth Faile,
chemistry; Phyllis Dewar,
chemistry and computer science;
George Hazelton, physics and com
puter science; J. P. Harris,
biological science; and Dewar,
biological science.
Gifts for the teann
Athletic Director James Garrison, right, presents Coach Belinda
McKeel a tee shirt from the NJCAA Women's National Tourna
ment, and onnounced that each member of the team would
receive a similar gift.
PAGE 14—The Chowanian, May-June, 1985