As the Arkansas 2A State Tournament began, many around the state didn’t know where the town of Mansfield was, let alone who the Lady Tigers were. While the town of Mansfield holds 1,097 in its city limits, their opponents in the first two rounds of the tournament were larger and well-known in the state. Cities like England (2,445) and Fordyce (3,329) were supposed to breeze past the “no name” Lady Tigers according to the critics. But Mansfield’s players have spent their entire careers with a chip on their shoulders and are always happy to be the underdogs. The Lady Tigers went into the State Semifinals as underdogs yet again against the Mount Vernon-Enola Lady Warhawks. Town size wouldn’t matter as the two great programs vied for a spot in the 2A State Championship game. 

Both teams started off with their nerves playing the game as they traded turnovers and missed shots. Kaylee Ward put the Lady Tigers on the board first with a long two-point shot, but turnovers continued to rule the next two minutes of play. After a drought of scoring in the game, Natalie Allison hit a free throw to make it a 3-0 score but that was it for another few minutes until Kynslee Ward hit another short jumper. Mount Vernon would hit a long-range three-pointer at the buzzer to score their first points of the game but it was an all-defensive first quarter with the score setting at 5-3 in Mansfield’s favor.

Mount Vernon would score first in the second quarter with three straight three-pointers to take a 12-5 lead. The game was getting physical and the Warhawks pressure defense caused multiple turnovers by the Lady Tigers which only fueled Mount Vernon’s momentum. Even when Mansfield was able to get shots off, they weren’t able to connect with the basket. Mount Vernon on the other hand couldn’t miss as they extended their lead to 19-5 over Mansfield with 1:32 left in the half. That score remained the same as time ran out in the half as the Lady Warhawks held Mansfield scoreless in the second quarter and sent the Lady Tigers into halftime down 19-5.

The second half began the same way as the first quarter with both Mansfield and Mount Vernon swapping turnovers. It was the Lady Warhawks who kicked off the scoring with a three-pointer to go up 22-5 forcing Mansfield to call a timeout. Natalie Allison hit a jump shot and then a layup to score the Lady Tigers first points in over a quarter. Mount Vernon would hit a three-pointer but Kaylee Ward broke loose for a layup to keep the Lady Tigers in the game. Turnovers and fouls continued to fall against Mansfield which skyrocketed the Lady Warhawks with momentum and points in the game. The Lady Tigers would hit a late scoring spree, but still had a long way to go as the third quarter ended with Mansfield down 31-14 to Mount Vernon.

Fireworks by Mansfield began with back-to-back Skylynn Harris three-pointers for the Lady Tigers. Mount Vernon would answer with two threes and a layup though to douse Mansfield’s offensive spark. Down by 19 points, Mansfield’s luck didn’t improve with the Lady Tigers having a player foul out. Kynslee Ward and Alyson Edwards kept trucking though as Ward put in a layup and Edwards sank a free throw. Unfortunately, no matter how much fight the Lady Tigers had, Mount Vernon was just too strong, sending the Lady Warhawks back up to a 23-point lead. Kynslee Ward drilled a three-pointer and Skylynn Harris hit a jump shot in the closing minute, but Mount Vernon’s lead continued to stretch with free throws as Mansfield fell to Mount Vernon with a 50-30 final score.

The Lady Tigers may have lost their semifinals game and missed a shot at the State Championship, but they definitely set a standard for the Lady Tigers future teams. The 2023 Lady Tigers finished their season with a 29-5 overall record and as the 2A-4 Co-Conference Champions, the 2A-4 District Champions, the 2A West Regional Runner-Ups, and made it to the Final Four Arkansas State Tournament. Seniors Skylynn Harris, Seven Sanderson, Natalie Allison, and Brooke Adams have earned more accolades in their Mansfield basketball careers than most other schools as a whole could imagine which sets them up as one of the most dominant groups in Lady Tigers history. The future of the program is dazzling too as the Lady Tigers look to return Alyson Edwards, Kynslee Ward, Raine Hecox, Harlie Fuller, Trinity Triska, Kaylie Lowery, Meghan Emery, and Kaylee Ward while also moving up a talented freshman group next year. One thing is for sure, the Mansfield Lady Tigers are definitely now known by the state of Arkansas now and will continue to be known for many years to come.

The Lady Tigers went into the Arkansas 2A State Tournament with a 24-7 overall record as the 2A-4 Co-Conference Champions, the 2A-4 District Champions, and the 2A West Regional Runner Ups. All of that is fine and dandy if that’s all you’re capable of. But the Arkansas State Championship, now that is the goal of goals for the Lady Tigers. Mansfield started the tournament off by redeeming a 2022 loss to England in Round1 of the 2023 State Tournament with a 62-38 blowout to get one step closer to their goal. Round2 on the other hand seemed like it would be much tougher on paper as they faced the 1Seeded Fordyce Lady Red Bugs. The teams matched up well in size and skill which left only one factor to determine a winner. Determination.

Mansfield started off with freshman Kaylee Ward winning the opening jump and it was game on from there. The Lady Tigers wasted little time scoring as Natalie Allison pulled the plug on the Lady Red Bugs by draining three straight three-pointers. With the threat of arc shots evident, Fordyce moved out to the perimeter to defend any big points. Mansfield then switched gears and started dishing the ball into the paint which allowed the Lady Tigers to outrebound Fordyce and go back up with putback points. Fordyce was able to bring the opening quarter to a four point gap off of free throws but couldn’t seem to keep up with the red-hot Lady Tigers. Kaylee Ward and Alyson Edwards stood tall at the backboard and put through shot after shot as the first quarter ended with Mansfield leading 20-13.

A slow start to the second quarter by Mansfield brought the Lady Red Bugs back within five points again, but the Lady Tigers endeavored to persevere off of pure hustle. Fordyce applied some full-court pressure to slow the Lady Tigers back down, a tactic that proved to be effective early. The pressure made Mansfield make sloppy passes, miss shots, and even rack up six charged fouls as Fordyce continued to keep the game close with a 24-18 score. Although Mansfield was playing good defense, the Lady Red Bugs would not back down as both teams traded blows on each end of the court. The Lady Tigers offensive cold streak finally ended with a Kynslee Ward three-pointer. Alyson Edwards powered in for a rebound and board bucket to close the hard fought half with the Lady Tigers up by a dime, 29-19. 

Fordyce opened the second half on offense but the Lady Tigers stole the ball and roared downcourt to capitalize with a smooth Kaylee Ward hook shot. The tide quickly switched again though with back-to-back Lady Tiger turnovers that gave Fordyce six points closing Mansfield’s lead to 31-25. Kynslee Ward broke another Fordyce run as she drove the ball into the paint to drop in a layup. The score helped, but didn’t stop the Lady Red Bugs. As fouls and mental mistakes by the Lady Tigers piled up, Fordyce began to smell blood and went after Mansfield hard. That “hard” was taken by Kynslee Ward who drew a charge call to give Mansfield the ball right back. Ward then sank a long range three-pointer to set the score at 38-26 in Mansfield’s favor. Skylynn Harris quickly added a board bucket of her own and was followed up by a Kynslee Ward reverse layup. Kaylee Ward then took a rebound and added a putback to close the third quarter with a 44-28 lead in Mansfield’s favor.

It all would come down to the final quarter. The Lady Red Bugs opened the final quarter by hitting a three-pointer, took a steal, and then drew a foul to boot. With an explosive start by Fordyce, Mansfield leaned on their fast-paced offense to try to wear down Fordyce. The plan was effective and forced Fordyce to call a time-out with 6:46 left in the game and a 49-35 score. The Lady Red Bugs kept momentum coming out of the time out with a layup and drew a couple of fouls against Mansfield along the way to close the score within ten points. Unfortunately for the Layd Red Bugs, they made a mistake shortly after that. A “big” mistake. The Lady Red Bugs left Mansfield’s 6’4 freshman, Kaylee Ward, wide open under the rim. Ward dropped the ball through the net for an easy bucket to put the Lady Red Bugs on ice. Mansfield began to pass around the ball to slow the game down with 1:48 left on the clock. Fordyce would make back-to-back steals on the Lady Tigers in the final seconds, but capitalizing with points wasn’t as easy as Mansfield rolled on to a 53-39 victory over Fordyce.

The Mansfield Lady Tigers have earned a spot in the Arkansas 2A State Tournament semifinals. If you want to add some pizzazz to that phrase, you can say that this is March Madness and Mansfield is in the Final 4. Joining the Lady Tigers in the Final 4 will be the Hector Lady Wildcats, Conway Christian Lady Eagles, and Mount Vernon-Enola Lady Warhawks. Mansfield will face off against Mount Vernon-Enola on Saturday, March 4th at 6:00pm in Rector. The Lady Warhawks have been keyed as the number one 2A girls team in the state for months now and Mansfield is on a red-hot streak so make no bones about it, this game will be an edge-of-the-seat thriller.

Photos courtesy of Jeanie Keomoungkhoune