2011 will be remembered as the year of Lady Pirates basketball. Save for a loss in the semi-finals of the National Junior College Athletic Association Women’s National Basketball Championships, the team had a near-perfect season.
They broke the school record for consecutive wins, and in the process amassed a 35-1 record. Their sole loss was against Northern Oklahoma, who would go on to win the national championship.
They won the FCCAA/NJCAA Region VIII state championship, beating Northwest Florida in the finals for a fourth time in the season.
And they won the Panhandle Conference championship for the first time in 17 years, breaking a 13-year streak by Gulf Coast.
But the greatest accomplishment was qualifying for the NJCAA tournament. The last time the women’s basketball team won a spot in the Sweet 16 was 1985, before this year’s team was even born. They won third place in the consolation game, the highest a PSC women’s basketball team has ever placed.
Certainly a season to remember.