Courtney Simmons left Baton Rouge more than 20 years ago to chase dreams of basketball glory in college. One of those dreams will come true this weekend when she returns as the first-year coach of the Grambling women’s basketball team.
Grambling will visit Southern on Saturday for a Southwestern Athletic Conference game that will have plenty of implications in the league standings. Grambling (16-8, 10-3 SWAC) sits alone in second place while Southern (11-13, 9-4) is tied for third with Arkansas-Pine Bluff, one game back.
A win by Southern could create a logjam in second place behind league leader Jackson State. A win by Grambling would create a cushion for the Tigers between the Jaguars going into the final two weeks of the regular season.
Simmons expects to have plenty of supporters on hand for the game, which will tip off at 3 p.m. at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.
“Who doesn’t want to come back to their hometown and have all of their friends and family watch them do something that they love?” Simmons said. “I went to school on that campus right across the street from the mini dome. It brings back memories of watching Southern play. Now, leading my own team against Southern, it’s surreal.”
Simmons won six letters while starring at Southern Lab and was named the MVP of class 1A when she led the Kittens to the 2002 state championship. An assistant coach at Troy for 10 years before taking the job at Grambling, she has the Tigers playing aggressive defense while showing an ability to score points in bunches.
It’s a style that produced a 69-45 win over Southern on Jan. 20, the Tigers’ largest margin of victory over the Jaguars in more than 20 years. Grambling now will try to improve on its 2-18 record in Baton Rouge since 2004 as it goes for its first regular-season sweep of the Jaguars since 2009.
“I think that’s an indication of who I am because my kids have taken on my personality in a lot of ways,” Simmons said. “That was the Southern Lab way that was instilled in me when I played for (former Lab coach) Henry Combs. We wanted to score 100 points every game, so now my philosophy is we want to score 120 points every game.”
Grambling looked ready to make that statement a reality on Jan. 30, when a 30-point second quarter propelled it to a 49-18 halftime lead. Conversely, the quarter was Southern’s worst of the season.
A consolation for Southern was outscoring Grambling by seven points in the second half. Along with the home-court advantage, it helps provide a confidence boost for the Jaguars.
Leave a Reply