This article is one in a series of features produced in partnership with the Southwestern Athletic Conference, exploring the history of the SWAC from its founding in 1920 to the present day. The series will run during the months of April and May.
Alcorn State’s men’s basketball program received most of the headlines and attention during the 1980s, but over the course of 30 years, the Lady Braves’ women’s basketball program was just as successful thanks to their long-time head coach Shirley Walker.
Walker’s focus on disciplined basketball and vision to create something the HBCU women’s hoops community could benefit from have earned her several honors and the admiration of the Alcorn State community.
A native of Bude, Mississippi, she graduated from Alcorn State and began coaching the Braves women for the 1978-79 season.
She replaced her husband Lonnie, who would serve as men’s basketball assistant during the Braves’ runs to the NCAA tournament.
While men’s basketball had become a national sensation in those days, women’s college basketball came from humble beginnings.
Outside of the Cheyney State teams led by C. Vivian Stringer, HBCU women’s hoops was no different.
The SWAC was not originally included in the NCAA tournament, or its predecessor, the AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) tournament.
After the NCAA began their own women’s basketball tournament in 1982, it would not be until the late 90s when the SWAC earned an automatic bid to the Big Dance.
Walker, who served on the NCAA women’s basketball committee for years, was instrumental in the SWAC finally receiving an autobid.
By the time the 2000 SWAC women’s basketball tournament rolled around, the Lady Braves had something of a bridesmaid’s reputation.
At the time, Alcorn had won eight regular season championships and three SWAC tournament titles (pre-autobid) under Walker, but were still looking for that first NCAA tournament appearance.
Alcorn State was the second seed in the tournament at 15-3, two games behind Grambling at 17-1. Both teams advanced to the championship at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi.
After losing twice to the Tigers in the regular season, the third time proved to be the charm for the Lady Braves.
Junior forward/center Cherea Wood, the tournament’s most outstanding player, recorded a double-double of 14 points and 18 rebounds and guard Daisha Reed scored 17 points as Alcorn State rolled over Grambling 83-56 for the SWAC title and their first appearance in the NCAA tournament.
“I’m still in a little shock,” Walker told the Biloxi Sun Herald after Alcorn State drew Louisiana Tech on Selection Sunday. “I’m still on Cloud Nine. The entire program did a great job of getting the team into the tournament. I’m proud of the girls for working hard to get there.”
Gracious in defeat, Grambling coach Rusty Ponton credited Walker for the SWAC earning a spot in the NCAA tournament.
“Shirley helped put SWAC women’s basketball on the map,” he said. “She did everything possible to promote this conference. I have always considered Shirley as one of the top coaches in the nation.”
Walker would have a chance to test herself against one of the very best in Louisiana Tech’s Leon Barmore, who announced his retirement before the tournament began.
Not a team to be intimidated or upstaged, Alcorn went into the Thomas Assembly Center and gave the Lady Techsters a challenge in the first half. Kamrica Turk’s three-pointer at the 7:40 mark of the first half pulled the Lady Braves within 27-25.
Unfortunately, Louisiana Tech went on a 14-0 run soon after and cruised to a 95-53 win.
“When they get the momentum going, they are hard to stop,” Wood said afterwards. “But I’m proud that we never quit.”
“I was pleased with how we played,” Walker said. “We got frustrated, but we weren’t intimidated.”
Walker’s Alcorn State women would repeat as SWAC tournament champions in 2001 and won one more SWAC title in 2005.
By the time she departed the coach’s chair in 2008, Shirley Walker won 493 games, still the most for any SWAC women’s basketball coach.
And the awards and rewards continued to roll in after her coaching days wound down.
During the 2014-15 season, the court at the Whitney Complex was renamed the Shirley A. Gibbs-Walker Court and she was also awarded the SWAC’s lifetime achievement award.
“This award means a lot. When someone looks over your work and realizes how much you put your heart and mind into what you have done, it shows that the conference appreciates your accomplishments,” Walker said. “It means a lot to be a part of this conference.”
For a woman who spent a large portion of her career in the shadows of her own school as well as some conference rivals, the story of SWAC women’s basketball and SWAC women’s sports as a whole, cannot be told without Shirley Walker.
A woman who served as head women’s basketball coach at her alma mater not only put the program on the map but also paved the way for everyone else in the conference to share in the joy of earning a trip to the NCAA tournament.
