Women's Basketball Winning On And Off The Court

BEAUMONT - While the Lamar University women's basketball team continues to make strides on the court under the direction of head coach Larry Tidwell, they are also producing a large number of graduates.

This spring five ladies associated with the Lamar women's basketball program took their first step into life after college when they received their degree during the May 16 commencement at the Montagne Center. Players Ashley Crawford, Emily Spickler, Agnija Reke and Nikki Williams along with manger Carrie Canoy walked across the stage as five of the eight members of the Lady Cards program to have graduated in the last two years.

"Graduating five Lady Cardinals on time is proof that attending summer school each year is certainly beneficial to reaching our academic and educational goals," Tidwell said. "Spickler, Williams, Reke, and Crawford came in here and took care of business on and off the court and it proves that your focus can be on winning games and also winning in the classroom."

One of the main reasons for the success for the Lady Cardinals success in the classroom has been the "Maintaining Academic Excellence" golf tournament, which has been hold annually by Tidwell and his staff.

In addition to the graduation numbers being solid for the Lady Cardinals over the last two years, they have also maintained a team GPA of nearly 3.0 over the same time period.

"Providing our girls with the necessary assistance to succeed academically, and off the court, is integral to the success of our basketball program," Tidwell said. "The Maintaining Academic Excellence Golf Tournament is the biggest contributor in paying for summer school and for all of our sponsors and boosters throughout the Golden Triangle and across the entire country we are sincerely grateful."