{"id":1946,"date":"2011-04-07T12:13:21","date_gmt":"2011-04-07T17:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/library\/"},"modified":"2012-03-07T13:33:21","modified_gmt":"2012-03-07T19:33:21","slug":"the-college-kats-womens-basketball-at-magnolia-am","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/archives\/history\/illustrated\/magnolia-am-1941-1951\/the-college-kats-womens-basketball-at-magnolia-am\/","title":{"rendered":"The College Kats–Women\u2019s Basketball at Magnolia A&M"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kathryn<\/a>

Kathryn Brown, the catcher, in 1949 (click here to enlarge photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

(Excerpted from James F. Willis, Southern Arkansas University: The Mulerider School\u2019s Centennial History, 1909-2009<\/em>, pp. 179-80)<\/p>\n

Women athletes competed at A&M for the first time since 1930 but received no support. Colonel [Charles] Wilkins occasionally loaned the teams transportation but gave them nothing else. He did applaud the efforts of Kathryn Smith Brown to put together independent women\u2019s teams in basketball and softball. There was no college conference in Arkansas for women\u2019s sports. Brown, unable to interest other colleges in fielding teams, scheduled games with independent non-collegiate teams. Brown, like most teachers at A&M, wore multiple hats. She taught a full load of physical education classes each day, sponsored the cheerleaders, and was determined to coach women athletes. She had participated in competitive athletics as long as she could remember. A talented natural athlete, Brown had played for her hometown\u2019s high school basketball team when she was only eleven years old. The new college publicist Dick Ratliff managed to get her unusual record (and A&M) mentioned in \u201cRipley\u2019s Believe It or Not,\u201d a syndicated feature that appeared in many newspapers across the country.<\/p>\n

\"A&amp;M<\/a>

A&M Women\u2019s Independent Basketball Team in 1946 (click here to enlarge photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

Brown recalled that local citizens strongly supported her softball teams: \u201cEverybody in town came to games.\u201d The Chatterbox caf\u00e9 sponsored the team, the Magnolia Kats, by buying uniforms and equipment. The summer of 1949 was the Kats\u2019 best season. They won 20 of 24 games and made it to the Southwest Regional Softball Tournament at Camden before losing to a team from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Brown played catcher on the team.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The College Kats, state champions in 1949 (click here to enlarge photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

Brown also played on her basketball teams when regular players fouled out. In three seasons, 1947\u201349, the College Kats, also called College Co-eds, outscored opponents 985\u2013662 points. The outstanding player in those years was Winnie Dodson who averaged 26 points per game. She graduated before the 1949 championship season, but her younger sister, Pat Dodson, competed with Norma McMahen for high scorer. Magnolia merchants also raised money to support the basketball team. They funded the Co-eds appearance at the Amateur Athletic Union\u2019s tournament in Little Rock where they won the state championship. Three players were picked for all-state honors: Dodson, McMahen, and Jean Moore. Other Co-ed players included Lucille Holley, Pat Alexander, Ann Mauney, Gene Lee, Mary Kate Simpson, Evelyn Fee, Mickey Roling, and Rita Waller. Local citizens again paid the team\u2019s expenses to attend the national tournament at St. Joseph, Missouri, but unfortunately, A&M\u2019s women did not prevail in that contest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Excerpted from James F. Willis, Southern Arkansas University: The Mulerider School\u2019s Centennial History, 1909-2009, pp. 179-80) Women athletes competed at A&M for the first time since 1930 but received no support. Colonel [Charles] Wilkins occasionally loaned the teams transportation but gave them nothing else. He did applaud the efforts of Kathryn Smith Brown to put… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":1857,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-1946","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1946\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}