The Lady Tigers basketball team’s success this season has been a team effort, with freshman point guard A’Laeshia Adams contributing numerous 3-pointers and assists to help the team along.
Adams has had a record-breaking season. At the Jan. 31 home game against Harding, Adams set a personal record of 26 points. The same night the team set a school record for 3-pointers, with 18 in one game.
The team is 15-6 for the season this year, and Head Coach Garry Crowder has high hopes for the remainder of the season.
“The players on the team have all made major contributions to the great season this year and we’re looking forward to a good rest of the season,” Crowder said.
Growing up in Little Rock with both parents in coaching professions, Adams was around sports all the time. With the athletic genes from a mother who is a volleyball coach and a father who is a basketball coach, “daddy’s little girl” started on her basketball career at 9 years old.
“My mom and dad were never forceful about what [my brothers and I] had to do,” Adams said. “It was always like ‘Do what you want to do.’ But with my dad being a basketball coach, he could show me the right way to play the game. Plus, I’m a daddy’s girl and that’s how we spend time together.”
Adams’ teammate, freshman forward Beulah Osueke, believes Adams to be an excellent creator on offense.
“When it seems like there isn’t a way to score, she finds a way,” Osueke said. “When she’s on the court, she’s extremely focused on her performance in the game.”
Adams was the celebrity basketball player at Joe T. Robinson High School, and at times, according to Adams, it just got to be too much.
“In high school, I was the ‘go to’ girl,” Adams said. “Everything was based on me. Here, everyone is playing together. It’s more comfortable, and there’s less pressure here. A team can be more efficient that way.”
When deciding the school she would attend, Adams chose Ouachita because she loved everything about it. She liked the coaches and the campus most of all.
“I went to visit a couple of different schools,” Adams said, “but seeing Ouachita’s [team] score from last season, I went for the underdog. I’d rather be a part of the process of rebuilding a team, than to step on the court with a team that was already good.”
Because of some disciplinary issues with the team last season, Crowder was looking for a player with both leadership qualities and potential to fill the point guard position.
“We needed a better point guard, and A’Laeshia was one of the better ones around,” Crowder said. “She’s one of the top freshmen in our conference. If she continues on the path she’s on, she’ll no doubt become one of the top women’s basketball players in the league. We’re looking for big things for her.”
