CLEVELAND, Miss. - This fall, Delta State University Athletics will highlight some of the department's team and individual record holders in a continued effort to showcase the achievements of various student-athletes throughout Delta State's storied athletic history.
This week's spotlight shines on the Delta State women's basketball program and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Lusia Harris-Stewart. Harris-Stewart, who is widely recognized as one of the greatest centers to ever play women's basketball, spent four years at Delta State and helped change the face of women's hoops.
With Harris-Stewart in the middle and Hall of Fame coach Margaret Wade patrolling the sidelines, Harris helped the Lady Statesmen to a 109-6 record and three consecutive AIAW national championships (1975, 1976, and 1977). Harris-Stewart was the driving force behind the run for the Green and White, as she tallied 2,981 career points and snared 1,662 career rebounds. Those records still stand today, and she graduated with 15 total team, single game, and career records for the program. Harris-Stewart remains the school record holder in free throws made in a career (447), field goals made (1,267) and field goals attempted (2,001),
Harris-Stewart averaged 25.9 points and 14.4 rebounds per game for her career, including a 1976 campaign that saw her torch the competition to the tune of 31.2 points per game and 15.1 rebounds per contest.
Lusia was also an Olympian, as she was a member of the first-ever women's silver medal Olympic team and scored the first points in Olympic women's basketball history in 1976, where she was also the team's leader in points and rebounds in the games. Joining Harris-Stewart on that team were fellow Hall of Famers Ann Meyers, Nancy Lieberman, and Pat Summitt, who coached the squad. She also collected a gold medal as a member of the USA Pan American games team. Harris-Stewart was a three-time All-American and was a three-time AIAW tournament MVP in each of Delta State's national championship seasons.
Harris-Stewart also broke barriers when she was drafted in the seventh round by the New Orleans Jazz in 1977, but she was pregnant and unable to attend training camp.
Harris-Stewart was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992, and was also inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. Her Delta State team also received special recognition by the Women's Hall of Fame in 2017, when the team was recognized with the hall's 'Trailblazers of the Game" distinction, an honor bestowed upon individuals or teams that had a significant impact on the history and landscape of women's basketball.
