By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – As this past weekend came to a close, significant events happened to remind us how far women's collegiate sports have come and how important they are.
This past Saturday, Sarah Fuller, after winning the Southeastern Conference tournament in soccer with Vanderbilt's team, became the first woman to play football in a Power 5 conference contest. That became the biggest story in sports for several days.
At the same time, although a bit quieter in scope, the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team saw the first game of its golden anniversary season at Vanderbilt canceled due to the COVID pandemic. Then Chattanooga. UAB was added, then it was canceled the next day.
The 50th anniversary season for one of the most storied programs in collegiate women's basketball history is still trying to get started.
But the thought of how far women's sports have come since that 1970-71 season struck. In a week's time, the top national sports story and, in a much smaller scale, our top storyline revolved around women's sports.
To look back at that first season to celebrate the team's 50th anniversary isn't an easy job.
But it was humbling searching through our archives. In bound volumes containing every press release communicated from the Tech athletics department from 1970-71, there were countless pages on football, men's basketball and baseball. No surprise there – those were the primary sports of media interest. Even the rifle, golf and track and field programs got plenty of coverage. The freshman division of the men's basketball team even saw its share of attention.
The first press release found about the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team came after the team had completed its regular season, dated March 2, 1971. The Eaglettes had just completed its slate with an 11-4 record and was getting set to compete in the inaugural Tennessee Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament.
In file cabinets stored deep inside the Hooper Eblen Center, a rich history of Tennessee Tech athletics is stored, but there's still vital pieces missing. For a program as relatively recent as women's basketball, there are no statistics on file for the first four seasons. 1974-75 is the first file folder with statistics, numerical proof that games were played.
Football, men's basketball, baseball, track and field – sports that have been fielded nearly as long as Tennessee Tech sponsored varsity sports – can be just as spotty at times. Yes, materials exist so the history of the program can still be told, but statistics and recaps from games earlier than 1950 take some digging.
That aside, to put together information on the first Tennessee Tech women's team – that is officially recognized by the athletics department as there have been women's basketball club teams in various forms at Tech dating back to the '20s -- from the archival information available isn't an easy task. The 1971 Eagle yearbook devoted three brief paragraphs and a photo to encapsulate the entire season. The 1970-71 bound release collection just contained two stories on the season – the March 2 release and another six days later after the state tournament was completed.
There wasn't even a team photo on file from the inaugural team until this fall when Dianne Murphy, a member of the first Tech women's basketball team, brought in a scrapbook with clippings throughout her career – which has been a wealth of information during this celebration process.
Even the lede from the first reference to the Tech women's basketball program is a product of its time. The release, with no author credited, states: "The Women's Lib movement has spread to Tennessee Tech, where the Golden Eagles are asserting their dominance in a sport just ended for Tech's men."
"Tech's gals," it continued, speaking almost like a 1940's-era newsreel in what I can only imagine as a Walter Winchell-esque voice, "are shooting for the state championship in the first-ever Tennessee Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament scheduled Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Memphis State."
From the records that have been passed down from media guide to media guide, the game results are there for that first team head coach Marynell Meadors fielded on the basketball court at Tech. The Golden Eaglettes won nine of its first 10 games and 10 of its final 12 to end the first season with a 23-7 record.
A lot of the usual suspects are there among the 1970-71 schedule – Murray State, Belmont, Austin Peay, Middle Tennessee, UT Martin (with Pat Head Summtt as a freshman) – as well as a 1-1 mark against Tennessee.
The Golden Eaglettes defeated Austin Peay 59-46 and Middle Tennessee 55-42 to take the Tennessee College Women's Sports Federation district crown according to newspaper clippings, although the media guide information from past years also cites other games in the tournament field.
Jackie Laxton and Marilyn Jeffers each scored 16 against Austin Peay, with 12 points from Peggy Jolly. Laxton had 23 and Debbie Voiles 15 against the Blue Raiders.
The top two teams from each district made up the field for the state tournament, with Tech, Tennessee, UT Martin, Chattanooga, Lambuth and Middle Tennessee making up the field. Going into the tournament, the press release noted: "the hot shooting of rover Jackie Laxton of Oneida (17.6 ppg) and strong rebounding of guard Wanda Heidel of Wartburg (12.3 rpg)" leading the way.
It also noted Meadors would choose her six starters from the following seven: "Jackie and Wanda, Marilyn Jeffers of Oneida, Debbie Voiles of Oneida, Peggy Jolly of Sparta, Bobbie Blaylock of Hendersonville and Pam Smith of Hendersonville."
The Golden Eaglettes started the tournament on a sour note, falling to UT Martin 50-41 to force Tech into the consolation bracket. From there, Tech won its next four games, defeating Middle Tennessee 63-46, Chattanooga 58-41, Lambuth 73-56 and UT Martin 66-43, forcing the if-necessary game in the bracket for the championship. UTM won the state title 54-45 in Tech's third game of the day.
Going back to Murphy's scrapbook, the rest of the listed roster included Anita Austin, Janet Buck, Lucy Carmichael, Brenda Choate, Janet Derrick, Sylvia Mays, Jan Moore, Murphy and manager Jill Hooey.
If anything, there are two lessons learned from this. The first is how far sports information, athletics communications, public relations or media relations – whichever label you choose to go with – has come in compiling information, statistics, photos and the still-growing field of social media. Telling the story in a press release is only scratching the surface these days.
The second lesson is just how much more important women's sports have become over the years. Female athletes have become household names. Professional leagues have formed. They have become role models for future generations to look up to.
For Tech, it truly started in earnest in that 1970-71 season. Little did anyone on that team know just what they were creating.
