Rena Newson Lott, a retired Alabama A&M University college professor has recently produced a new book about basketball player Lucy Harris. Below is an excerpt from the book.
BOOK EXCERPT
In her freshman year at Delta State, Lucy helped lead the Lady Statesmen to the regional tournament, ending with a season record of 16-2. Delta State lost to Mercer University 52-65, which eliminated them from the competition in the AIAW Region III championship games and, as a result, prevented them from competing for the national AIAW championship title. “We were highly upset, and we got together as a team and told each other if we get this far next year, we’re going to go on to the national tournament.” Grand ambitions indeed! To take the national championship title after getting through the state and regional tournaments, the Lady Statesmen would have to get past the women’s basketball team of Immaculata University.
Immaculata University is a Catholic school whose 1970s women’s basketball team had the deserved reputation of playing basketball games to win and who had already earned three consecutive AIAW national championship titles, the only three AIAW championship national titles presented by the AIAW organization up to that time.
Oh! At this point, you should know that in the 1970s, women’s sports were not under the umbrella of the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), which is the current administrative authority for all college sports, men, and women. The NCAA at that time oversaw and set policies for men's college sports programs only.
The administrative authority for women's sports was the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), and as stated before, Immaculata University had won all of the national championship titles presented by AIAW!
Immaculata University women’s basketball teams had proven themselves to be highly skilled players, the best, winning the AIAW National Championship title in 1972 and again the following two years in 1973 and 1974. In the world of women’s college basketball, they seemed to be invincible! Immaculata University women’s basketball team called the “Mighty Mac,” were truly pioneers in women's basketball sport’s history. If the Lady Statesmen of Delta State were going to win a national championship title, they would for sure have to go through the Mighty Mac.
In their first year together, the Lady Statesmen had established themselves to be a cohesive and very capable group of players but had failed to capture their regional title and, as a result, did not earn a slot in the national women’s basketball championship games. At season’s end, however, they had a renewed determination; they would get to the national tournament and bring home the championship title. They had aimed their sights toward winning their first AIAW national championship title with the understanding to achieve that goal; they would meet Immaculata University’s, Mighty Mac.
