The Delta State Lady Statesmen basketball team is the women's basketball team that represents

Delta State University Delta State University (DSU) is a public university in Cleveland, Mississippi Cleveland is a city in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 11,199 as of the 2020 United States Census. Cleveland has a large commercia ...

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, United States. The school's team currently competes in the

Gulf South Conference The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States. History Originally known as the Mi ...

History

The Lady Statesmen began play in 1925. They joined the

for women's basketball in 1986. The Lady Statesmen won three consecutive AIAW titles from 1974 to 1977, led by coach Margaret Wade, who was dubbed the "mother of modern women's college basketball," and star player

Lusia Harris Lusia Mae Harris (February 10, 1955 – January 18, 2022) was an American professional basketball player. Harris is considered to be one of the pioneers of women's basketball. She played for Delta State University and won three consecutive Ass ...

, who was drafted into the NBA her senior year. They have won the

NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament The NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament (officially styled as "Championship" instead of "Tournament") is an annual tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II women's college basketball nati ...

three times, winning them in 1989, 1990, 1992 (all coached by Lloyd Clark), while finishing as runner up in 1993 to North Dakota State. They are the only Division II women's team with over 1,000 wins. They have made the NCAA Tournament 27 times, with a record of 57–25.

AIAW Championships

NCAA Division II Championships

Postseason results

AIAW Division I

The Lady Statesmen made four appearances in the AIAW National Division I basketball tournament, with a combined record of 13–1.

References

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