THE CITIZEN-TIMES, Scottsville, Ky., Thursday, February 2, 2012—PAGE 11

The Citizen-TimesFebruary 2, 2012

News FromThe Circuit Rider

By Don MeadorC-T Staff Writer

The Western Kentucky Lady Toppers are struggling this season but that has not always been the case. From the mid 1980s through the 1990s, the Lady Toppers were among the nation’s elite womens basketball teams. In the back-to-back seasons of 1984-85 and 1985-1986, Western Kentucky University—with former Al-len County-Scottsville Lady Patriots Laura Ogles and Susie Starks making con-tributions on the court—the Lady Toppers reached the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

The Lady Toppers But-ler-like run (Mid-major program Butler run to the Mens NCAA Final Four the past two seasons) didn’t stop there. The high point of Lady Topper history came at the end of the 1991-92 season as Western Kentucky finished as the NCAA runner-up, los-ing to Stanford in the title game.

The accomplishments of the Lady Toppers weren’t bad given that womens bas-ketball on the Hill was a still new sport in the 1980s. At the time of WKU’s first Final Four appearance in 1985, the program’s modern-era was just 12 years old.

For current Allen County resident Patty Sue Suther-land, her senior year at Western Kentucky Univer-sity was unique and laid the

foundation for what would become one of the nation’s most successful college bas-ketball programs. Suther-land was a member of the Lady Topper basketball team for the 73-74 season—the first time in 43 years that ladies played collegiate basketball.

According to the current Western Kentucky Univer-sity womens basketball me-dia guide, the Lady Toppers played one game in 1914-15, took six years off before playing four games in 1921-22. WKU legend E.A. Diddle coached the ladies for two seasons (23 and 24), compil-ing an 11-6 record. Diddle’s 1923 team won a “state” championship. WKU went 26-23 in the next six seasons under coaches Jane Culbert, Neil Robbins and Elizabeth Dabbs. After the 1929-30 season, WKU did not field a women’s team until 1973.

Such was the case for most colleges and universities around the state and nation. Women did not have the op-portunity to play high school or college basketball. Still, that did not stop Sutherland from learning the game and polishing skills on backyard courts and neighborhood playgrounds in her Lexing-ton home. Like most Lex-ington residents, the Uni-versity of Kentucky was her favorite team.

“I grew up watching the University of Kentucky in Memorial Coliseum,” Sutherland recalled. “My family had season tickets and we still do.”

Not only that but her grandfather befriended two-time Kentucky governor and former Major League Base-ball Commissioner Happy Chandler. The family con-nection is a memory that

remains with Sutherland to this day—especially the years in which she would meet Chandler at UK ball games.

“Happy would hug me, call me sugar,” Sutherland said. “I was a 10-year-old, and that thrilled me to death.”

Watching the Wildcats un-der legendary coach Adolph Rupp stirred Sutherland’s heart. She longed to have the opportunity to play bas-ketball. But, as was the case in the 1960s, girls playing basketball were limited.

“Girls played but more in intramural leagues,” Sutherland stated. “I played basketball around the neigh-borhood with the guys.”

Sutherland also recalled a time in which she—as a high school student—was able to shoot hoops with a UK star in the gym at Henry Clay High School in Lexington.

“Louie Dampier was a stu-dent teacher,” Sutherland explained. “One semester, I was a student teacher. I shot baskets with him dur-ing the lunch hour.”

Following graduation from Henry Clay, Sutherland seemed destined to attend the University of Kentucky. However, plans changed.

“I was the most indepen-dent one of four children,” Sutherland said. “So at the last minute I decided to go to Western. I had visited the campus and fell in love with it.”

Like most schools, West-ern offered women the op-portunity to play basketball intramural leagues but not in intercollegiate play. De-spite the fact that across the college landscape more and more colleges were start-ing women basketball pro-grams, Western Kentucky administration would not make the change.

At the same time, a feder-al regulation called Title IX was passed. The 1972 leg-islation was geared toward eliminating sexual discrimi-nation and stereotyping in academic and educational processes. The by-product of Title IX was the implication that if a school has a specific sport’s team for boys then they must have a team in that same sport for girls.

Title IX would lead to a major change in the land-scape of womens sports across America. Yet, WKU was hesitant to move for-ward in making the change. Enter Sutherland and her basketball-playing friends.

“There were several of us that loved basketball,” Sutherland explained. “We lobbied and we begged the administration to give us the opportunity to play. Finally my senior year, we got that opportunity. I believe our persistence changed their minds. Plus, other schools were allowing women to play and I don’t think they (WKU) wanted to be left be-hind. We would be the first modern era team.”

The university hired Pam Dickson as the team’s coach, who was young and fresh out of college herself.

“She was about the same age as us,” Sutherland re-called.

The team started to prac-tice and prepare for the upcoming season. Practice sessions were mainly held at Jones-Jaggers Elemen-tary School located near the campus. E.A. Diddle Arena was reserved for the Hill-toppers. Occasionally, the women were allowed to use the auxiliary gym across the hall from Diddle’s main court. Other supplies were lacking as well as operating on a limited budget.

“It was a little rough around the edges,” Suther-land noted. “We had uni-forms and shoes but we had no warm-ups.”

In an interview in the Col-lege Heights Herald the day before the Lady Toppers’ first game, Coach Dickerson was asked what she knew about Western Kentucky’s opponent—Bellarmine Col-lege from Louisville. Her response indicated the low budget on which the Lady Toppers were operating. “We do not have the money to go and scout them” Dick-son told the reporter.

As the opening game approached—scheduled to tip at noon on a January afternoon in 1974, newspa-per preview articles focused both on the game and the novelty of womens basket-ball. In Don Collins’ Col-lege Heights article, Collins questioned what many were asking.

“A lot of question marks exist,” Collins wrote, “First there’s the nagging question of whether womens inter-collegiate sports are a good idea.”

In the article, Sutherland noted that the game carried with it added incentive—given that the struggle to field a team had been under-way for years.

“We feel that we should have a little extra incentive,” Sutherland said. “We want to show administration that they weren’t wrong.”

On the court, Sutherland started along with Tonya Dillon, Leslie Cole, Jan-ice James and Cindy Bell. Western Kentucky archives show that Bellarmine edged WKU 43-41. The loss was the first of seven setbacks for the school on their mod-est 11-game schedule. The Lady Toppers did win—posting four victories over Kentucky State twice, 40-31, 47-35 and Louisville twice, 43-39 and 37-32. WKU fin-ished 4-7 with a 2-1 record at Diddle, 1-4 worksheet on the road and 1-2 in games

at Morehead State Univer-sity in the KIAC (Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Con-ference) tournament at the end of the year.

One of the Kentucky State wins was especially fond for Sutherland.

“My father passed away in November of my senior year,” Sutherland explained. “We had a game at Kentucky State in Frankfort. That day I was hitting lights out and scored 31 points. It was the scoring record until Brenda Chapmen broke that. My mother and brother were there. It was bittersweet since my daddy could not be there and he had been my biggest supporter.”

Sutherland looked back at the season and recalls how the players came together as a team, fueled by the common goal of being a part of the building foundation of Lady Topper basketball.

“We had played against each other in the intramural leagues,” Sutherland add-ed. “But, together, we had all worked so hard to get this team. Our persistence changed their minds.”

Looking back, Sutherland recalls that it was a hard time—in that she only had one year to live a dream.

“It was bittersweet,” Sutherland said. “It was my senior year. Basketball was my thing. I did not get to play as much as I would have liked too. Basketball was it for me. Basketball was my love.”

The first year’s team laid a foundation that would re-sult in the Lady Toppers ris-ing to among the elite—not just in the state but at the national level. The climb was short. Dickson left after one season, replaced by Dr. Carol Hughes. After a 3-14 season in 74-75, WKU went 19-6. A year later, the Lady Toppers were 22-9 under Julia Yeater. Success fol-lowed for the most part but it wasn’t until WKU hired a young coach in 1982 that would take the Lady Top-pers to the next level.

“When Paul Sanderford came he took the program to a level we had not seen since,” Sutherland said. “We went to Final Fours and got a

lot of recognition. I’m hoping we can reach those heights again. It’s tough these days. I still follow them and I want them to do well.”

Sutherland is proud to say that she was apart of the beginning of the modern era of womens basketball at WKU.

“I am very proud of that,” Sutherland noted. “Over the years, in milestones years, we are recognized during half time of games. That’s always a thrill to walk out on the court and remember those days when we had so much fun. It makes me proud that I was a part of that.”

Sutherland is just retired after working for years in the Social Security Adminis-tration. However, she notes that sometimes she “re-grets” not going into coach-ing or officiating. However, she has continued to enjoy her love for basketball. To-day she follows the Lady Toppers and, of course, the Wildcats.

Her love for UK basketball also helped her to recently help fulfill a dream for a lo-cal man. When Sutherland learned that a Scottsville resident stricken with Ce-rebral palsy was hoping to obtain some UK items au-tographed by Coach John Calipari, she offered to help. After discovering that get-ting any autographed mem-orabilia was not allowed in season under NCAA rules, Sutherland decided to do the next best thing.

“I had a UK basketball that was signed by members of the UK basketball team from last year,” Sutherland explained, noting that she had been able to obtain the ball at Coach Calipari’s sum-mer camp last year. “I decid-ed to give it to him since it would mean so much more to him. The joy to see his face when he received it was the best Christmas present I could have gotten.”

Sutherland adds that bas-ketball will always be a sport she loves and hopes to one day celebrate as UK wins another national champi-onship and celebrate when the Lady Toppers reach that milestone as well.

Sutherland Shares Memories of Being a Lady Topper

(Photo by Carl Krull, College Heights Herald,

January 18, 1974)

Lexington native and current Allen County res-ident Patty Sutherland (25) takes a shot as part of a practice game in the fall of 1973. Sutherland was a co-captain of the Lady Toppers in 1973-74, the first year since 1930 that Western Kentucky University fielded a wo-mens basketball team. WKU played 11 games that season, posting a 4-7 record but laying the groundwork for a Lady Topper program that has won over 800 games since.

(C-T Photo by Bob Pitchford)

NEWEST ROTARIAN—The Scottsville Rotary Club President Jan Bloink presented credentials to new member Jamie Boler on January 20. Boler is the Executive Director of the “Heart of Scotts-ville” downtown revitalization project.

(C-T Photo by Don Meador)

As a senior at WKU, Scottsville resident Patty Sutherland was a pivotal part of the rich history of Lady Topper Basketball. After a 43-year hiatus, her 1973-74 team was the first female WKU team to take the hardwood in the modern era and helped launch one of the most successful ladies collegiate basketball teams in the nation.