National Championship team
SWOSU honored the 1982 NAIA Women’s Basketball National Championship team Saturday, 40 years after the SWOSU women defeated Missouri Southern State to complete a 34-0 season and claim the school’s first of five NAIA championships.
“It was amazing to see my former players,” former coach John Loftin said “Some of these girls, I have not seen in 30-40 years, so it was great to be united again. It was so cool to see all the older fans and I am happy they remember how great 1982 was.”
Kelli Litsch, who was on the team and is the current SWOSU all-time leading scorer said it was awesome to see everyone again.
“Today was a great day and a great turnout,” Litsch said. “The most unbelievable thing was we could not believe it had been 40 years since we won the national championship. It was awesome to see people I have not seen when we left college. It is great for us and the current team to see us being honored.” The players on the team were Litsch,
The players on the team were Litsch, Deana English, Jan Cheadle-Ware, Chelly Belanger, Anita Foster, Mary Champion, Cindy Adair, Pat Jacques, Vickie Seal-Roop and Susan Mounts Trammell.
Demetriss Beacham was the manager and Thel Shelby was the trainer.
“Coach Loftin assembled the team with many different backgrounds,” Litsch said. “I loved playing for him and the greatest memory was the national championship game. We dominated and the game was not even close. Going 34-0 and dominating the national championship was amazing.”
The story begins when Loftin was hired in 1982 by Leonard Campbell and former SWOSU football coach Otis Delaport. Loftin got his master’s degree in 1976 and knew Delaport.
“The year before I was called, I had taken Murray Junior College to the national tournament,” Loftin said. “When I got the call, they told me SWOSU women’s basketball went 7- 17. They told me Kelli Litsch was going to sign at SWOSU and asked me what I could do with the program? I said I will win a national championship and they laughed at me when I said that, but they hired me.”
Well, Loftin’s teams won the 1982 national title and went onto win four more national championships in that decade. He won the national championships in 1983, 1985, 1987 and 1990.
Loftin also won basketball at the high school level too, as he won two state championships at Claude High School in Texas before coming to SWOSU. He knew he could win a national championship because he could get great players like Foster and Jacques.
“I knew a guy named Gary Blair who had coached Anita Foster and Pat Jacques in high school,” Loftin said. “Gary is a good friend and I called him and told him how Kelli Litsch signed to play for me at SWOSU. I was interested in those players and he actually asked me if I was interested in Foster and Jacques. I said yes and the very next day, I drove to Dallas and signed them.”
Loftin said it was important to sign those two because he had players with athletic abilities to make it tough for teams to double team Litsch with.
“You simply cannot just have a player as great as Kelli Litsch, because teams would just double team her,” Loftin said. “I knew if I could get players like Foster and Jacques, I would have a great chance to win.”
Loftin also got some great players from the junior college levels, such as Belanger, who was from Weatherford.
“I had coached in junior college for six years,” Loftin said. “I knew all the great junior college players who had come out of Oklahoma. Belanger played at Seminole State and I knew how good she was. She was a starter at Colorado State and wanted to be a veterinarian. One night, I called her on the phone. I said how about coming back home to win a national championship and getting to play with Kelli Litsch and the team I put together. I told her if she said yes, we will win a national championship and then you can go to Oklahoma State and become a veterinarian. She said yes and now I had three All Americans, including Litsch, Foster and Belanger. My front line was solidified.”
Loftin said he also knew of another great point guard named Mary Champion, who played at Connors Junior College.
“All I had to do was call her and tell about the great players coming to SWOSU,” Loftin said. “She immediately said I will come to Weatherford and be part of this team. At the time, Connors Junior College had one of the best junior college programs in the country.”
Loftin said as soon as he got Champion at point guard, all he had to do was get some shooting guards, such as Deana English.
“The year before Deana came here, she played against Kelli in the state championship game,” Loftin said. “Kelli played at Thomas and Deana played at Elmore-City. I told Deana Kelli is signing with SWOSU and how we needed her as a shooting guard. She signed and we had another shooting guard.”
SWOSU won the national championship game 80-45, which is the biggest women’s national championship win in NAIA history. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State refused to scrimmage or play SWOSU.
“This was just a fairytale come true,” Loftin said. “Forces just came together at one time. The reason we were so good is because we had so many great players on the floor, so no one could double team us. Everyone played us honest and we were just better than everyone. We tried to play Oklahoma for two years and tried to play Oklahoma State for three years, but they would not play us. This is because we had Division 1 players playing in NAIA. I bet we could have been a Top 4 team in Division 1 that year, so that shows how much talent was on this team.”
Loftin said there are many people to thank, but particularly wanted to thank people such as Chuck Edwards, Jim McCain, Bob Maynard and the fans.
“There are just so many alumni and old people in town who have supported me throughout the years,” Loftin said. “I want to thank a few people. No. 1 is Chuck Edwards. Chuck was our announcer throughout all these years and I want him to get the credit he deserves. He is as good of an announcer as they come. Jim was a photographer here and made pictures for all my teams when he was here. He still takes pictures and does it for nothing in return. He does not work for the school. I want to thank Bob Maynard, who was the assistant president in 1982. I also want to thank the fans for all the support back in the day. Once we got the program started and playoff time came around, we had people lined up a block from Rankin Williams Fieldhouse to get tickets to games.”
Litsch said it is one of her responsibilities as a former Lady Bulldog to support coach Kelsi Musick and to support the Lady Bulldogs.
“I am one of coach Musick’s biggest fans and was part of the committee who hired her,” Litsch said. “She coaches a style of basketball which kids love to play. It is fast paced and they get to take lots of shots. Lots of people get to play. Kelsi does a great job coaching the girls and I enjoy watching the girls play every year.”
Loftin said SWOSU’s new facility has helped boost recruiting as well as Musick’s success as coach.
“The first thing is the Pioneer Cellular Event Center,” Loftin said. “Kelsi has done an amazing job at SWOSU and what helps is this facility. When you have the best facility in Division II, you should have a good program and she does. It really is amazing how great the program is and I am so happy that the program continues to remain in great hands.”