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Grambling State women's basketball set a college record, winning by 141 points

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

The Grambling State University women's basketball team set a Division I record this week by outscoring their opponents by - wait for it - 141 points.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR #1: And the ball goes out.

UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR #2: The Grambling Lady Tigers harassing the Lady Ambassadors on these final seconds on the court. It seems like they may hold it, with the score being 159-18.

KELLY: I'm just going to repeat that final score for you - 159-18.

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

Wow. The Tigers' historic win came while playing on their home court in Louisiana. They were relentless against the team from the College of Biblical Studies, based in Houston. The win set a new NCAA record for margin of victory.

CALLIE LAWSON-FREEMAN: It's impressive that they were able to win by 141 points.

SUMMERS: That's Callie Lawson-Freeman, a contributing writer for Yahoo sports. She says the record-setting score was a team effort.

LAWSON-FREEMAN: Every single one of their players on their roster scored over six points. So things like that are worth being excited about.

KELLY: Sure. She says, as exciting as the game was for Grambling fans, running up the score against a mismatched team is not universally appreciated.

LAWSON-FREEMAN: It's definitely controversial when a team scores as many points as Grambling State did. So yes, they scored 159 points, which is great, but their opponent only scored 18. And the College of Biblical Studies - they introduced basketball as a sport for the first time this year.

KELLY: Controversial or not, Grambling head coach Courtney Simmons is proud of her team.

COURTNEY SIMMONS: We scored 159 points. That's unheard of in a collegiate basketball game. That's unheard of at any level. And Grambling State University will forever be in the NCAA record books as the biggest margin of defeat, which was 141 points. That is unheard of, and it may never be broken again.

SUMMERS: The win took Grambling's record to just one game above 0.500, so coach Simmons says she knows what it's like to lose.

SIMMONS: So yeah, we have been on the other side of that this season, right? Maybe not a 141-point loss because we're going to play a little defense. But, you know, we've taken our fair share of a**-whoopings this year as well. And so it doesn't feel good, but it is a part of sports. If you put your shoes on and you lace them up the way I do, you know, let the best man win. And unfortunately, for College of Biblical Studies, on Tuesday night it was Grambling State women's basketball.

SUMMERS: We wanted to hear from the team from the College of Biblical Studies to get their take on this game, but they did not return our messages. Maybe they're out on the practice court?

KELLY: Oh, harsh.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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Gabriel J. Sánchez
Gabriel J. Sánchez is a producer for NPR's All Things Considered. Sánchez identifies stories, books guests, and produces what you hear on air. Sánchez also directs All Things Considered on Saturdays and Sundays.
Kathryn Fox