Nancy Faulk (2001) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Nancy Faulk

Induction:
2001

When she first set foot on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi in the fall of 1977, she discovered a women’s basketball program that had won 21 while losing 28 in its first two years. It was a program that rarely drew more than a few hundred people to watch them play.
   But there were a couple of good reasons that she did decide to come to Hattiesburg and play basketball. One was Kay James who had just assumed the head coaching position after several seasons at Berry College. James had a vision for women’s basketball at Southern Miss it was a vision that one day would have the Lady Eagles playing with and against the best teams in the country. There was something appealing in that vision that attracted Faulk, that and being a part of building something special, something unique that had never been done before.
   As a freshman Nancy proved right away that she was something special, leading the team in scoring, field goal percentage and free throw percentage. She averaged 19.0-points, shot 52.6-percent from the field, 75.2-percent from the foul line and finished second on the team in rebounding with 8.3 per game. That team finished 15-10 and the birth of a basketball program was under way. She set a scoring record that still stands today when she scored 43-points in a win over Mississippi University for Women in January of 1978.
   During her sophomore year she once again led the team in field goal and free throw percentage and finished second behind Diana Lyons in scoring in rebounding. She averaged 16.5 points and 6.2 rebounds that season while shooting 54.9-percent from the field and 78.4-percent from the line. The Lady Eagle kept getting better posting a 16-10 mark on the year and winning a game in the MAIAW state tournament for the first time.
   As Faulk and the Lady Eagles continued to get better, teams began to take them more seriously, and naturally Faulk started to attract a lot of attention. She still averaged 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 52.7-percent from the field and 74.2-percent from the line. Her 26 blocked shots that year also led the team. The team went 15-11 that year, but the brand of basketball that Faulk and her teammates were playing was starting to bring the fans for the first time to watch them at Green Coliseum.
   Faulk senior year would be her best and the best in Lady Eagle history up to that time. Averaging team high 16.0 points and a career high 8.6 rebounds a game, she shot 57.8-percent from the field, 74.4-percent at the foul line. The lady Eagles went 22-7 that year and earned there first ever bid to the national tournament, playing in the AIAW regional in Valdosta, Georgia.
   Four times Faulk was named to the MAIAW all-state team and for her career she scored 1,696 points, pulled down 788 rebounds, shot 54.5-percent from the floor and 75.7percent from the free throw line. In the three years that the record was kept she blocked 76 shots. She still stands fourth on the career scoring list, third in career field goal percentage and fifth in career rebounding.