Murphy, storied former coach, dies
Alma Murphy, who relaunched the women’s basketball program at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and coached the Golden Lionettes — as they were known then — to the school’s only conference championship to date, has died.
UAPB acknowledged Murphy’s death before Saturday’s home game against Florida A&M University.
In 1978, UAPB won the Arkansas Women’s Intercollegiate Sports Association championship. Women’s sports were not yet sanctioned by the NCAA or National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, and the AWISA — which existed from 1965-83 — was a separate organization from the men’s Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference, of which most small Arkansas colleges and universities were members until its 1995 disbanding.
Murphy was a teacher in UAPB’s Health, Physical Education and Recreation Department when she and fellow instructor Anne Finley were asked to start women’s athletics at the school in the mid-1970s, according to former sports information director Carl Whimper. UAPB had played one prior season of women’s basketball in 1948-49, he said.
Murphy assisted Finley in coaching volleyball, Finley assisted Murphy in basketball, and both coached on a volunteer basis, Whimper said.
“She spent a lot of money out of her pocket, but in terms of meals, they didn’t have a budget,” Whimper said of Murphy. “Some of the kids paid for their own meals. She coached without a budget.”
Murphy’s inaugural basketball team in the 1975-76 season included 12 walk-on players and played 12 games, according to the UAPB alumni website.
That spring, Murphy landed four standout players from Arkansas, as Helen Hughes of Stuttgart, Brenda Gulley of Tillar and Catha McGehee of Reed earned scholarships. Susan Weaver of Wheatley walked on.
Hughes averaged 21.3 points per game as a freshman and made first-team all-AWISA. The Golden Lionettes beat Philander Smith College (now University) 124-44, to this day the most decisive victory in program history (80 points). This season, Dawn Thornton’s Lady Lions beat Texas A&M University-Texarkana 118-51 (67 points) and later against Arkansas Baptist College, 103-35 (68 points).
In 1977-78, UAPB went 24-2 overall and 16-2 in the AWISA on its way to the conference championship. A banner from that season still hangs in the rafters of H.O. Clemmons Arena, which opened four years later.
Murphy was named AWISA Coach of the Year. Hughes, McGehee, Gulley and Weaver were named all-Americans.
“Coach Murphy was a very stern coach,” said Pine Bluff City Clerk Janice Roberts, a freshman on the championship team. “She was a loving coach as well as a mentor. She made sure we stayed healthy as we approached the game by eating right, exercising healthy and staying hydrated. She drilled us with plays. All of the typical workouts that’s required for athletes to do, she ensured we did all of those things. She was a great coach to play under.”
Murphy also became a mother figure to some of the players, Roberts added, and made sure the team had chaperones, including her own mom, for road games.
“She reached into the community and pulled together all the support for the team,” Roberts said.
Murphy coached through the 1981-82 season, her 10054 record still the winningest in program history. The closest UAPB has come to winning a conference title was last season, when the Lady Lions lost in the SWAC championship game to Southern University.
Murphy continued to teach at UAPB until the 2000s, Whimper said.
“The strategy of leadership, being analytical and structured in policy and procedures, I take from Coach Murphy,” Roberts said. “I also take a spirit of humility. There would be times we were on the basketball court and we wanted to get into it, but she made sure we maintained humility. I took that when I was on the city council and now into the city clerk office as well.”
Murphy’s age was not confirmed.
“She would never talk about age,” Whimper said. “As a matter of fact, it was Coach Thornton’s first year [at UAPB], and she invited those players from that [197778] team to a luncheon. The ladies said, ‘We’re not playing for you anymore, Coach. How old are you?’
“She said, ‘I’m the same age when I was coaching you.’”