2010-11 Women's Basketball

Coach Dale Neal begins his 41st year of coaching and his 17th season at the helm of the Lady Lion basketball program, having compiled a record of 417-142 and a winning percentage of .746 at FHU.

Few programs in the NAIA have seen the levels of success and consistency that Neal has brought to Freed-Hardeman in the last 14 years. Over that time frame, the Lady Lions are one of only two programs to have won at least 20 games and competed in the NAIA National Tournament every year. Only three schools can claim each accomplishment by itself.

The Lady Lion basketball program instantly turned around when Neal came to Freed-Hardeman.  In his first season in 1995, the Lady Lions finished a then school-record 21-9.  Two years later, the team set a new record by winning 26 games and making the school's first ever appearance in the NAIA National Tournament and winning its first game, 76-63 over East Central Oklahoma.  

In 1999, the Lady Lions again won 26 games and made a Cinderella run through the national tournament, knocking off No. 2 Wayland Baptist (Texas) University and No. 7 University of Auburn at Montgomery to reach the Fab Four. The dream of a national championship ended there with a loss to eventual champion Oklahoma City, but the deep run still helped put FHU women's basketball on the national radar for years to come.

The program took another step forward in the 2002-03 season. With a freshman-heavy lineup, the Lady Lions won 30 games for the first time in school history. The season, however, finished with a loss in the TranSouth Conference title game and a first-round exit in the national tournament leaving Neal and his still-young team more determined entering the next season.

That next season brought about more history at Freed-Hardeman. After five runner-up finishes in the TranSouth Conference tournament in Neal's tenure, the Lady Lions finally broke through and brought a championship banner to the Sports Center with a dominating 81-63 win over Union (Tenn.) University. It was the first of three consecutive conference championships for FHU.

The Lady Lions, meanwhile, advanced to the Elite Eight of the national tournament in each of those three seasons and set a new school record for wins in a season after going 32-3 in 2005-06.

Coach Neal was named the TranSouth Conference's Coach of the Year each season during that remarkable four-year stretch that saw FHU post a combined record of 123-21 overall and 49-7 in conference play.

Two years later, the Lady Lions almost cracked the 30-win barrier again in the midst of another run through the NAIA National Tournament which saw them make their second trip to the Fab 4 after winning three games in fewer than 48 hours.

Last season, Freed-Hardeman added another first to its record of accomplishments when the Lady Lions defeated No. 1 Union (Tenn.) University in the finals of the TranSouth Conference tournament, marking the first time that any FHU team had defeated a team ranked No. 1 nationally. It was also the first time in conference history that the top-seeded team did not win the conference tournament.

Neal holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harding University ('69) and a Master of Physical Education degree from the University of Nebraska ('80).  He coached the men's basketball team at York College in Nebraska for 11 years, where his teams combined record was 234-96 (.709), before coming to FHU.  Neal received seven coach of the year awards, including an NJCAA Region IX Coach of the Year award, while at York.

Neal and his wife, Kathy, reside in Henderson and have four children and 16 grandchildren.

Jana Pearson, a native of Hatley, Miss., begins her first season as the assistant coach for the Lady Lion basketball program.
 
Pearson played four seasons at Harding (Ark.) University before transitioning into the role of graduate assistant from 2007-2009 with the NCAA Division II program.  She was also a part of the track and field team in 2007 and was named to the Gulf South Conference Honor Roll from 2004-2007.

Though she did not attend FHU, Pearson is still quite familiar with the program at Freed-Hardeman.  She attended the Lady Lions summer basketball camp as a camper and later worked as a camp counselor.  Her brother, Brian, is a senior on the Lion basketball team.

Pearson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and a Master of Science in Counseling.  Before coming to FHU, she completed an internship at Texas Boys Ranch in Lubbock.