The organization that would become the NCAA was founded in 1906 at the direction of President Theodore Roosevelt to govern collegiate athletics.
But it was 76 years before the NCAA conducted its first basketball national championship for women. And that was 10 years after Congress approved Title IX, supposedly to give females an even footing in athletics.
Before the NCAA recognized women, there was the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), established in 1971 with 278 charter institutions. Within a decade, membership exceeded 800.
Basketball quickly became the AIAW's preeminent sport. The first three championships were won by Immaculata, a small private Roman Catholic school located in East Whiteland Township, Pennsylvania. Mississippi College was the runnerup in 1974.
It was another Mississippi school, Delta State, that put an end to Immaculata's championship run, defeating Immacuata in the championship game in 1975 and again in '76. Delta State made it a threepeat in 1977, defeating LSU in the final.
Attala County native Margaret Wade from the small town of McCool coached those Delta State teams.
Delta State was led by Lusia Harris, the first superstar of women’s basketball. She was a Leflore County native and a graduate of Amanda Elzy High School. At 6-3, she dominated the game. Harris had 32 points and 16 rebounds in Delta State's 90-81 victory over Immaculata in the 1975 championship game.
Harris and point guard Debbie Brock were a Mutt and Jeff combo for Delta State. At 4-11, Brock, a Jackson native and Forest Hill grad, was 16 inches shorter than Harris, but no less important to the team’s success. She was Most Valuable Player when Delta State repeated in 1976.
Wade can truly be called a coaching legend as a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. The Wade Trophy is given annually to the best player in women’s college basketball.
The AIAW basketball tournament was discontinued after 1982, the first year there was an NCAA women’s tournament.
The only schools to win championships in both are Old Dominion and Louisiana Tech. Nancy Lieberman led Old Dominion to AIAW titles in 1979 and ’80 and the school won the NCAA championship in 1985.
Another Mississippian, George County High School grad Janice Lawrence, led Louisiana Tech teams that won AIAW in 1981 and became the first NCAA champion in 1982 when she was Final Four Most Outstanding Player. Lawrence was recipient of the Wade Trophy in 1984 and had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds when the USA defeated South Korea in the 1984 Summer Olympics gold medal game.
