[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 52 (Tuesday, April 24, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E613]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       TRIBUTE TO SOUTHWEST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY LADY BEARS

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. ROY BLUNT

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 24, 2001

  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay honor to the Women's Basketball 
program at Southwest Missouri State University. The Lady Bears played 
their way into the NCAA Final Four in St. Louis before losing to Purdue 
University.
  For the second time in 9 years, the Lady Bears of Southwest Missouri 
found themselves in this select rankina of great women's teams in 2001 
and though they did not play in the final game, they brought great 
pride and excitement to the residents of the Seventh District of 
Missouri and beyond.
  Southwest Missouri State University women's basketball ranks 
nationally among the top teams in fan attendance. Their legions of 
dedicated followers were charged with excitement over the team's 
success. The late season run of the Lady Bears packed Hammons Student 
Center every game and sent fans searching for tickets as they won their 
way through the NCAA tournament in Piscataway, New Jersey and Spokan, 
Washington for the right to play in the Final Four in nearby St. Louis, 
Missouri-just three hours from Springfield. Wherever the team played, a 
bus or an airplane filled with its loyal fans followed.
  The 2001 season for the nationally ranked Lady Bears was filled with 
milestones. Coach Cheryl Burnett won her three hundredth victory in 14 
seasons. The 29-6 record is the second best in the Lady Bear's history 
behind the 1992 31-3 mark that also saw the Lady Bears in the Final 
Four.
  Five seniors anchored the squad: All-American Jackie Stiles, Tara 
Mitchem, Carly Deer, Melody Campbell and Tiny McMorris. Stiles was the 
nation's leader scorer with more than 30 points a contest and finished 
the season as the NCAA's most prolific woman's scorer ever with 3,393 
points in her four year career. She was also the first woman to score 
1,000 points or more in a single college season. While Stiles dazzled 
competitors with her scoring, it was team defense that played stunned 
competitors into submission.
  The Lady Bears fans understand the character of the team. Every young 
woman on the squad has a tenacious work ethic and they are tireless, 
never-give-up competitors. They played as a team of talented women who 
shared the glory of their successes with their fans as they represented 
a regional school in the Midwest competing and winning against better 
know teams trom larger schools.
  The Southwest Missouri State University Lady Bears are special not 
just because of where they are from but because of how far they have 
come in winning their way into the elite of their sport. The members of 
the Lady Bears of Southwest Missouri State University are models for 
other young women to follow and inspire them in their drive for 
academic success off the court as well as sports success on it. Over 
and over these young women said how proud they were to have played and 
represented SMSU on the court. We will miss them, but remember their 
accomplishments that are written in the history books of the great 
women's basketball teams in America.
  I know my Missouri colleagues will join me in applauding the great 
work of Coach Cheryl Burnett with the 2001 team, as well as expressing 
their belief that all of the senior members have bright futures ahead 
of them with the commitment to excellence they demonstrated during the 
2001 season and that their underclass teammates will carry their legacy 
into the future.

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