After getting first NCAA tournament win, Southern is hungry to make more history

Before Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Southern’s First Four game against UC San Diego on Wednesday night, head coach Carlos Funchess had led the Jaguars to three NCAA tournament appearances since being hired in 2018 but still was seeking his first win.

Now, after securing the program’s first ever NCAA tournament victory, Funchess and his team face an even greater challenge: The No. 16 seed Jaguars will play No. 1 overall seed UCLA on Friday.

“These young ladies have been working since June … with one goal in mind, and that was to win the conference regular season, win the tournament and get to this point and win a game, so it’s a historic night for us,” Funchess said after Wednesday’s win. “Our league [SWAC] is a quality league. Last year we went and beat Oklahoma at Oklahoma, and they ended up winning the Big 12, so we have some quality teams in this league, some quality coaches and play really good basketball.”

Southern’s pre-conference regular-season schedule included several Power Four schools including Oklahoma, Nebraska, Washington and Texas. Though the Jaguars lost those games, Funchess believes the competitive schedule prepared his team for March.

“We are really excited to be here,” said senior guard Soniyah Reed, who had a game-high 24 points on Wednesday. “And to win one of these games is really big for us, too. … We are a defensive-minded team, so going into Friday that is going to be a big thing for us, playing our defense.”

Funchess, the SWAC coach of the year this season, attributes his success at Southern to the experience he gleaned as an assistant under longtime Jaguars coach Sandy Pugh, as well as the time he spent as a collegiate player himself.

“I got the blueprint from Sandy Pugh,” Funchess told Andscape. “We were successful for 13 years when I was an assistant coach, and I just kept that same blueprint and continued, you know, the legacy that we have at Southern University.”

In her 18 years at Southern, Pugh led the Jaguars to four NCAA tournament appearances and earned SWAC coach of the year honors four times as well. With more than 300 victories during her tenure, she is the winningest coach in Southern women’s basketball history.

Funchess, who said he learned the value of developing post players and recruiting talent under Pugh, continued her tradition of winning when he took over as head coach in 2018, reaching the NCAA tournament in his first season leading Southern’s program.

“It’s an honor [to play for Funchess] … I can just go out and play, do my game. So, I am very thankful to have a coach like that because as y’all know, a lot of coaches are not like that so I am grateful for him,” said senior guard Aniya Gourdine, who had 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds in Wednesday night’s win.

Like his players, Funchess knows what it is like to excel at the collegiate level. In 2007, he was inducted into the ULM Sports Hall of Fame for his contributions to the program. He helped lead ULM (then known as Northeast Louisiana University) to two consecutive NCAA tournament appearances in the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons. He also was named the 1991 Southland Conference Co-Player of the Year and won the 1991 College Slam Dunk Contest.

Leaning on lessons learned under Pugh and as a player has proven successful for Funchess. However, the bond he has built with his team continues to lead the Lady Jaguars to new heights.

“I am just happy for all these young ladies to be able to come in and experience going to the NCAA tournament, there’s nothing like it,” Funchess said after Southern’s SWAC tournament win last Saturday.

Now the Jaguars hope to savor the experience a little longer.