ORANGEBURG,SC--The 1982-83 South Carolina State women's basketball team finished the regular season only 13-7, second in the MEAC, but got hot in the MEAC tournament, to win the title with close wins in the semifinals (63-61) and finals (65-64) to earn the league's automatic berth to the Division I Basketball Championship.

The Lady Bulldogs played at LaSalle in the opening round, winning 85-67 over the Explorers to set then NCAA record for fewest turnovers (4) in the Championship. SC State went on to advanced to the second round against No. 1-ranked Tennessee only to lose 81-56 to the defending national champions.

SCSU posted a final record of 17-8, and was led by Sr. forward Jimi Gatlin, who averaged 19.2 points and led the nation in rebounding for most of the season with a 16.1 average before finishing the year with a 14.8 rebounding mark…The team was the first MEAC women's team to participate in the NCAA Division I Championship and, at the time, became the only league team – men or women – to win an NCAA Division I tournament game.