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Apr. 3—They set the standard.
The 1986 Texas Longhorns women's basketball team — led by Hall of Fame point guard Kamie Ethridge, now Washington State's head coach, and fellow Hall of Famer Andrea Lloyd, a 1983 Moscow High School graduate — capped a perfect 34-0 season with the program's one and only national championship.
Forty years later, the 35-3 Longhorns are on the cusp of writing their own story, in the Final Four for the second straight year and fourth time since the '86 team won it all.
There is perhaps no one more invested in the outcome of today's Texas-versus-UCLA Final Four game than Ethridge.
Her name hangs in the rafters of University of Texas' Moody Center, along with Lloyd's.
And Ethridge's former star player at WSU, Charlisse Leger-Walker, is completing her college career at UCLA.
However, when the No. 1-seeded Texas Longhorns challenge their fellow top-seeded UCLA Bruins today at 6:30 p.m. Pacific (ESPN) in Phoenix, Ariz., Ethridge's loyalties are clear.
"If I said I wasn't rooting for Texas, I might get shot," Ethridge joked. "That's just not the nature of everyone that's graduated from the University of Texas. I'm happy for the Texas team and (coach) Vic (Schaefer)."
That doesn't mean she's not pulling for her former player, though.
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"I want her to be the best player on the floor," Ethridge said of Leger-Walker. "I want her to be as good as she can possibly be. So it's a win-win, I think, for me, no matter what happens, because (I'm) just invested in both teams in a million ways."
A perfect year
The Longhorns' path to perfection in 1985-86 was far from guaranteed, Ethridge said.
During that season, UT made its trip to Ethridge's hometown of Lubbock, Texas.
Ethridge, dying to be on the court, sat out with two swollen ankles and watched as her teammates fell behind.
The trainers told Jody Conradt that Ethridge could play for about 10 minutes — a fact she did not share, Ethridge said.
"I was on the end of the bench and the people were just crushing the people on the bench," Ethridge said. "'You don't get to play. You guys are terrible. We're gonna beat you.' And we were like, down, I don't know what, and it probably ended up being about the last six minutes of the game and finally she put me in."
Ethridge raced up and down the court, willing the Longhorns to their 18th straight victory and preserving UT's pursuit of perfection.
"You don't think about it. But then all of a sudden, you're in a game like that, and you think, 'Oh my gosh, we could lose this,'" Ethridge said of UT's undefeated streak. "I was so mad that she didn't play me more, but it worked out."
UT beat Ole Miss in the Elite Eight 66-63, then avenged a tournament loss from the prior season with a 90-65 takedown of Western Kentucky in the Final Four, before a final victory over USC 97-81 in the national championship.
From Moscow to Austin
Before she was winning gold medals and NCAA Tournament games, Moscow-born Lloyd boosted the Bears to a pair of Idaho state championships in 1981 and '82.
Her high school coach, Jennifer Barrett, a former Moscow teacher and coach who still lives in the area, said that Lloyd was the ultimate team player, moving back to Moscow during Christmas break in 1980 and immediately gelling with the team.
"She would always get the ball out to one of our guards," Barrett said. "She was fair with it. She was a team player. She didn't have to be, but she was."
Lloyd's standout play on the Palouse attracted the attention of southern schools like Tennessee and Texas.
At UT, Lloyd fit right in, earning playing time despite being younger than Ethridge and the Longhorns' established stars.
"Andrea was just someone that you (didn't) see much of back then. You didn't see a 6-2, athletic, strong (players who) just had the ability to explode, had the ability to guard any position on the floor, could handle the ball, could bring it up the floor," Ethridge said. "She could play in today's game so easily."
Lloyd and Ethridge teamed up again in the 1988 Olympics, winning a gold medal together two years after being crowned NCAA Division I national champions.
Lloyd's basketball prowess took her overseas to the Italian Professional League and back to the U.S. in the American Basketball League and WNBA.
Today, she broadcasts regular-season games for her alma mater and calls other college basketball games for ESPN.
Back under the lights
The floor where her Cougar career ended would be where the next chapter began.
More than two years ago, Leger-Walker and the Cougars were on fire, leading No. 2 UCLA by 16 points in the third quarter. Then, the unthinkable occurred.
Leger-Walker's fast break layup led to a torn ACL and an abrupt end to what could have been a transformative victory. The Cougars still won, holding on to upset the Bruins 85-82, but Leger-Walker's WSU career was effectively over.
The four-year Coug transferred with her WSU degree in hand to UCLA, where she began the long recovery process, sitting out last season.
This year, she is back on the court and making a difference with a team-best 207 regular-season assists.
Ethridge said that she is thrilled to see Leger-Walker return from her injury and play at such a high level, surrounded by elite teammates, who she makes even better.
"Charlisse is one of the highest-IQ players I've ever been around," Ethridge said. "She knows her strengths, and she knows those around her strengths. And I just think she's playing at an unbelievably high level and making other people better on the floor, which is one of her God-given skills that she has."
The better team?
There's a debate in UT circles concerning how this year's Longhorns stack up to the all-time great '86 squad, coached by Conradt.
While Ethridge is a little busy during the season — making four NCAA Tournament appearances over the past decade between Northern Colorado and WSU — she has enjoyed watching her alma mater's March Madness runs and tuned in for the Longhorns' most recent loss — an 86-70 fall to No. 5 Vanderbilt, and how they responded.
"(I) followed Vic (Schaefer's) comments and how he got after them, and then to see the turnaround and to see players stepping up into big moment roles and moments (was great)," Ethridge said of her alma mater, which since that loss has won 12 straight games. "(Vic) has always had unbelievable defensive teams, and they've always been that, and last year, they were completely that. It just feels like he's got them rolling offensively, too."
The debate of "better team" carries the prerequisite of a championship — an outcome which will be settled on the court this week.
"I think this Texas team now is probably wanting to shove that ('86) team into the past," Ethridge said. "Make a name for themselves and win another national championship for the University of Texas."
Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2260, [email protected], or on X or Instagram @Sam_C_Taylor.
Continue reading...
The 1986 Texas Longhorns women's basketball team — led by Hall of Fame point guard Kamie Ethridge, now Washington State's head coach, and fellow Hall of Famer Andrea Lloyd, a 1983 Moscow High School graduate — capped a perfect 34-0 season with the program's one and only national championship.
Forty years later, the 35-3 Longhorns are on the cusp of writing their own story, in the Final Four for the second straight year and fourth time since the '86 team won it all.
There is perhaps no one more invested in the outcome of today's Texas-versus-UCLA Final Four game than Ethridge.
Her name hangs in the rafters of University of Texas' Moody Center, along with Lloyd's.
And Ethridge's former star player at WSU, Charlisse Leger-Walker, is completing her college career at UCLA.
However, when the No. 1-seeded Texas Longhorns challenge their fellow top-seeded UCLA Bruins today at 6:30 p.m. Pacific (ESPN) in Phoenix, Ariz., Ethridge's loyalties are clear.
"If I said I wasn't rooting for Texas, I might get shot," Ethridge joked. "That's just not the nature of everyone that's graduated from the University of Texas. I'm happy for the Texas team and (coach) Vic (Schaefer)."
That doesn't mean she's not pulling for her former player, though.
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"I want her to be the best player on the floor," Ethridge said of Leger-Walker. "I want her to be as good as she can possibly be. So it's a win-win, I think, for me, no matter what happens, because (I'm) just invested in both teams in a million ways."
A perfect year
The Longhorns' path to perfection in 1985-86 was far from guaranteed, Ethridge said.
During that season, UT made its trip to Ethridge's hometown of Lubbock, Texas.
Ethridge, dying to be on the court, sat out with two swollen ankles and watched as her teammates fell behind.
The trainers told Jody Conradt that Ethridge could play for about 10 minutes — a fact she did not share, Ethridge said.
"I was on the end of the bench and the people were just crushing the people on the bench," Ethridge said. "'You don't get to play. You guys are terrible. We're gonna beat you.' And we were like, down, I don't know what, and it probably ended up being about the last six minutes of the game and finally she put me in."
Ethridge raced up and down the court, willing the Longhorns to their 18th straight victory and preserving UT's pursuit of perfection.
"You don't think about it. But then all of a sudden, you're in a game like that, and you think, 'Oh my gosh, we could lose this,'" Ethridge said of UT's undefeated streak. "I was so mad that she didn't play me more, but it worked out."
UT beat Ole Miss in the Elite Eight 66-63, then avenged a tournament loss from the prior season with a 90-65 takedown of Western Kentucky in the Final Four, before a final victory over USC 97-81 in the national championship.
From Moscow to Austin
Before she was winning gold medals and NCAA Tournament games, Moscow-born Lloyd boosted the Bears to a pair of Idaho state championships in 1981 and '82.
Her high school coach, Jennifer Barrett, a former Moscow teacher and coach who still lives in the area, said that Lloyd was the ultimate team player, moving back to Moscow during Christmas break in 1980 and immediately gelling with the team.
"She would always get the ball out to one of our guards," Barrett said. "She was fair with it. She was a team player. She didn't have to be, but she was."
Lloyd's standout play on the Palouse attracted the attention of southern schools like Tennessee and Texas.
At UT, Lloyd fit right in, earning playing time despite being younger than Ethridge and the Longhorns' established stars.
"Andrea was just someone that you (didn't) see much of back then. You didn't see a 6-2, athletic, strong (players who) just had the ability to explode, had the ability to guard any position on the floor, could handle the ball, could bring it up the floor," Ethridge said. "She could play in today's game so easily."
Lloyd and Ethridge teamed up again in the 1988 Olympics, winning a gold medal together two years after being crowned NCAA Division I national champions.
Lloyd's basketball prowess took her overseas to the Italian Professional League and back to the U.S. in the American Basketball League and WNBA.
Today, she broadcasts regular-season games for her alma mater and calls other college basketball games for ESPN.
Back under the lights
The floor where her Cougar career ended would be where the next chapter began.
More than two years ago, Leger-Walker and the Cougars were on fire, leading No. 2 UCLA by 16 points in the third quarter. Then, the unthinkable occurred.
Leger-Walker's fast break layup led to a torn ACL and an abrupt end to what could have been a transformative victory. The Cougars still won, holding on to upset the Bruins 85-82, but Leger-Walker's WSU career was effectively over.
The four-year Coug transferred with her WSU degree in hand to UCLA, where she began the long recovery process, sitting out last season.
This year, she is back on the court and making a difference with a team-best 207 regular-season assists.
Ethridge said that she is thrilled to see Leger-Walker return from her injury and play at such a high level, surrounded by elite teammates, who she makes even better.
"Charlisse is one of the highest-IQ players I've ever been around," Ethridge said. "She knows her strengths, and she knows those around her strengths. And I just think she's playing at an unbelievably high level and making other people better on the floor, which is one of her God-given skills that she has."
The better team?
There's a debate in UT circles concerning how this year's Longhorns stack up to the all-time great '86 squad, coached by Conradt.
While Ethridge is a little busy during the season — making four NCAA Tournament appearances over the past decade between Northern Colorado and WSU — she has enjoyed watching her alma mater's March Madness runs and tuned in for the Longhorns' most recent loss — an 86-70 fall to No. 5 Vanderbilt, and how they responded.
"(I) followed Vic (Schaefer's) comments and how he got after them, and then to see the turnaround and to see players stepping up into big moment roles and moments (was great)," Ethridge said of her alma mater, which since that loss has won 12 straight games. "(Vic) has always had unbelievable defensive teams, and they've always been that, and last year, they were completely that. It just feels like he's got them rolling offensively, too."
The debate of "better team" carries the prerequisite of a championship — an outcome which will be settled on the court this week.
"I think this Texas team now is probably wanting to shove that ('86) team into the past," Ethridge said. "Make a name for themselves and win another national championship for the University of Texas."
Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2260, [email protected], or on X or Instagram @Sam_C_Taylor.
Continue reading...
