The Lady Lions have etched their names into history, becoming the first HBCU to claim the Sooner Athletic Conference with a 64-54 victory over Mid-America Christian on March 4th, 2025, at C.F Gayles Field House. The achievement marks the first SAC tournament championship in program history. Under the leadership of first-year head coach Chris Vincent, the team has put on an amazing regular season performance with a 29-2 record. This makes the best record the Lady Lions have recorded since the 2007-08 season when they finished with a 31-2 record. With the men’s team also securing their 3rd straight SAC title in 3 seasons, it is clear Langston is playing with something to prove.
UNGUARDABLE
This historic win for the Lady Lions capped off an impressive tournament run that showcased Langston’s dominance from start to finish. In their opening game of the tournament, against Oklahoma City University, the Lady Lions cruised to a 78-43 victory powered by Koreea Kirskey’s 21 points and Diamond Richardson’s strong performance, pulling down nine rebounds and racking up 3 assists. In the semifinals, Langston defeated the College of the Ozarks 73-56, with Jordan Brown leading the offensive charge with 27 points and Mikayla Woods grabbing 15 rebounds and delivering six assists. In the championship game against Mid-America Christian, Langston maintained control from the very beginning, taking a 6 point lead in the first quarter and then a 39-23 lead by halftime. Kirksey once again led the way with 22 points, while Jordyn Conner dominated the glass, securing 11 rebounds in the 10 point victory. In their 3-game championship stretch, the Lady Lions have scored an average of 71 points per game, with the margin of victory averaging to over 20 points a game, meaning that they are outscoring teams by an average of over 20 points. Following the game, Coach Chris Vincent stated, “To see the joy on these players’ faces, it’s amazing. To get one is great, but to get two in a situation like a conference tournament is even better. It’s a test for our program, the first time we’re all together and trying to beat the best in the conference in a short period of time.”The men’s team have also been on a hot streak, winning 6 games in a row and 3 to secure the 3-peat as SAC champions.
NAIA TOURNAMENT BERTH
With the SAC title earned, both the men and women’s basketball team earned the No. 4 seed in the upcoming NAIA Tournament. Langston will host the first and second rounds of the tournament for the first time in program history as their first game will be against Blue Mountain Christian on Friday, March 14. Both teams advancing to the NAIA tournament shows Langston University’s growing prominence in collegiate athletics and highlights the strength of HBCUs on the national stage. The Langston community now eagerly waits for both the men and women’s basketball team to continue to make history.
Coach Vincent described the team’s mindset going into the national tournament: “It’s win or go home the rest of the year, so we just have to continue to do what we do. We need to take it to another level. If we stick to what we do and stay true to our DNA, we can make some noise in the national tournament.”
Joshua Heck
Joshua Heck is a junior broadcast journalism and computer science major.
