Play together, win together

M ove over Charlie’s Angels, it’s time for a fresh trio. Crowder’s Angels are doing some damage on the courts of the Gulf South.

 Sophomore Gabby Coleman and freshmen A’Laeshia Adams and Domino Miller make up a guard rotation that has silenced the skeptics and led the Lady Tigers basketball team to a Gulf South Conference Tournament berth.

 What a difference a year makes. Fifty-two weeks ago the Lady Tigers were on vacation. This year they have traveled to Mississippi for the tournament.

 Last season the Lady Tigers manufactured only two conference victories on their way to a 5-22 record. After being branded seventh in the pre-season coaches’ poll, they endured injuries and inexperience on the path to nine conference victories and their first 20-win season in eight years.

 Head Coach Garry Crowder kept the young team focused on its mission despite a rough 2-4 start to conference play. With outstanding play from a backcourt that includes the reigning GSC freshman of the year, Coleman, the Lady Tigers finished the season on a tear, going 8-1 in their final nine games and handing Delta State its lone conference loss.

 “We realized if we didn’t turn it around and fast that our chances at the tournament would be very slim,” Coleman said. “We knew what we had to do to succeed.”

 Tenacious defense has enabled the success. Scrappers like senior Kim Beverly anchor a defense that would make the Pittsburgh Steelers proud.

 The frontcourt however has been decimated by attrition, with shot-blocker freshman Tamara Robinson being the most recent victim of a season-ending injury.

 “That was a big loss for our team,” said Melissa Richardson, a junior forward. “She is a great basketball player…but we’ve kept our attitude very positive. We are ready for the tourney.”

 Three-point shooting facilitates the second highest scoring offense in the GSC (78.3 ppg). Richardson is among the long list of Lady Tigers who can hit from WNBA range.

 “It’s a big part of our offense,” Coleman said.

 Regarding their chances at the tournament, the women have already knocked out Montevallo, winning yesterday afternoon, 62-52. 

 “As long as we play together like we have been, I think we will go pretty far,” Richardson said.