1972 · 1973 · 1974 - University Communications – Immaculata

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I M M A C U L A T A U N I V E R S I T Y • SPRING 2011
C O M M E M O R AT I V E M A G A Z I N E
IMMACULATA IS THE
BIRTHPLACE OF MODERN
COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
NATIONAL WOMEN’S COLLEGE
BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS
1972 · 1973 · 1974
W W W. Y E A R O F T H E M I G H T Y M A C S . C O M
i
HIGHER EDUCATION
ii
I M M A C U L ATA U N I V E R S I T Y
Message from the President
L-R: Former Mighty Macs Head Women’s Basketball Coach Cathy
Rush who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball
Hall of Fame in 2008, and Immaculata University President
Sister R. Patricia Fadden, IHM, Ed.D.
Dear Immaculata Friends,
Immaculata University is proud to recognize the 1972, 1973,
day. The team’s story will be told in the fall 2011 movie The
and 1974 Mighty Macs for their contributions to women’s
Mighty Macs, a testimony to the iconic status that the Mighty
college basketball and to the Immaculata community. As a
Macs have gained in the history of American women’s sports.
result of their three consecutive women’s basketball national
Many of the Mighty Macs have gone on to coach at all levels of
championships, Immaculata University is recognized as
the birthplace of modern women’s college basketball. The
team’s academic and athletic excellence paved the way for
more young women to have opportunities to participate in
college sports. The Mighty Macs’ journey from underdogs to
champions attracted widespread attention to women’s college
basketball, which led to greater interest in women’s sports.
The list of the team’s achievements is long: a three-year winning
streak from 1972-1974 in the first national women’s collegiate
basketball championships, one of the first two women’s teams to play
at Madison Square Garden, one of the first two women’s teams to
have a game broadcast on national television, and the first American
women’s basketball, from high school to national teams, passing
on their talent and love of the sport to younger women. They have
not only garnered national recognition for Immaculata, but they
have also brought national prominence to women’s sports.
I am honored to know these remarkable women. I celebrate their
personal, professional, and athletic achievements, applauding them
for being at the forefront of women’s college basketball. They are
an inspiration for future generations of women, and for all athletes,
encouraging them by their example to develop their minds and
bodies, to compete well, and to take pride in their hard work. Please
join me in commemorating the accomplishments of the Mighty Macs!
college women’s team to compete outside the United States.
The team was home to four All-American players: Theresa
Shank Grentz ‘74, Marianne Crawford Stanley ‘76, Rene Muth
Portland ‘75, and Mary Scharff ‘77. The excitement of the
Mighty Macs’ “Glory Days” has endured up until the present
P R E S I D E N T O F I M M A C U L AT A U N I V E R S I T Y
1
PRESIDENT
EDITOR
Robert Cole
ART DIRECTOR
Michael Nuñez
MANAGING EDITOR
Marie Moughan ’87
EDITORIAL
Ellen Dooley
Allison Duncan
Lydia Szyjka ’09M
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Daniel B. Serianni
PHOTOGRAPHY
Steve Bayles
Brian Garfinkel
Jack Hardway
Hunter Martin
Lydia Szyjka ’09M
Steve Toepp
Mike Whitson
Bob Williams
WEB
Seth Kovanic
FRONT COVER PHOTO
Mighty Macs Theresa Shank (#12)
and teammate Tina Krah (#35)
hold off West Chester State College
player Jane Fontaine during a 1974
basketball game played at Cardinal
O’Hara High School.(Archived
Image, Photographer Unknown)
A Magazine for
Immacul ata universit y
alumni, family and friends
SPRING 2011, Vol. X VI, No. 2
STAY CONNECTED
FOLLOW IU ON
2
3
Mighty Macs the Movie
Black Tie GALA
64 The Pink Zone
66 Black Tie Gala
68 Red Carpet
88 Mighty Macs in the IMAX®
4
Branded materials from The Mighty Macs The Movie Black
Tie Gala included a basketball shaped invitation. Guests
were each given a 40th anniversary commemorative pin
recognizing the first national championship season, and
an Immaculata blue View Master with custom reels of
archived photos from the Mighty Macs women’s basketball
team and their championship seasons, as well as pictures
from IU’s campus today.
Contents
26
FOREVER CINDERELLAS
Today, the NCAA/WBCA Coaches Trophy is awarded to the
NCAA Division I women’s basketball team that finishes first in
the USA TODAY ESPN Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. The trophy is made of handcrafted Waterford Crystal and is valued at
$30,000. Immaculata now has three of these trophies (above)
in recognition of the Mighty Macs winning the national women’s
college basketball championships in 1972, 1973 and 1974.
Immaculata University President Sister R. Patricia Fadden,
IHM, Ed.D., is pictured (top right) in front of "Touchdown
Jesus," a mural which graces an exterior wall of the University
of Notre Dame’s Hesburgh Library. The mosaic was installed in
1964 and is officially titled The Word of Life by Millard Sheets
and depicts the resurrected Jesus. It has been said that Jesus’
outstretched arms are reminiscent of a football referee’s arm
and hand gesture signifying a touchdown – thus the artwork’s
universally known nickname. “Touchdown Jesus” is visible from
Notre Dame’s football stadium.
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RUDY MEETS THE MIGHTY MACS
Departments
6 Tributes
46 The Mighty Macs
11 What a Rush!
100 Making the Movie
12 Sports Page
110 IU Campus Screenings
25 Macs Online
114 Rudy Meets the
Mighty Macs
26 Forever Cinderellas
123 Gala Sponsors
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66 I MI MMMA AC CU UL AL A
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The Mighty Macs women’s
basketball national champions’
tribute display in IU’s Villa
Maria Rotunda
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I TI YT Y
T AU U
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10
WHAT A RUSH!
I always said I was a ’60s woman. In the ’60s women seemed to
go to college, get married, work for three years, have a family,
and never work again. I graduated from West Chester State
College, got married and started a teaching career.
After teaching for two years, the job at Immaculata College became available. It seemed
like the perfect job – low key, no pressure, and
a way to stay busy during the winter while my
husband, Ed, was traveling. Because the gym at
Immaculata had burned down, our practices
were held at the gym at the Motherhouse. I eagerly arrived early for our four o’clock practice.
The women studying to become nuns were in
the gym having their recreation time. They were
playing basketball, roller skating, and playing
other games. I silently watched as the Immaculata students who were going to try out for the
team filed in. They, too, sat and quietly watched
the recreation.
As the novitiates’ recreation ended and our
players started to shoot around, I was pleasantly
surprised to see how good these girls were. They
could shoot, dribble, rebound, and looked like
they really knew what they were doing. It was
not what I expected at all.
We started through a series of drills and skills
competitions, and I continued to be amazed by
what I saw. That night when I went home, I told
Ed that the girls were great. He gave me a look
of, “Sure they are,” and just smiled.
As the season started, we had to play all of our
games away, since we didn’t have a home court.
The girls would get rides with friends and family, and we would all show up at our opponent’s
gym. We started out winning our first eight
games. As I arrived for our ninth game, Theresa
Shank and Maureen Mooney had not arrived.
Initially, I was angry, but as time passed, I began to worry that something bad had happened.
Just as the game was about to start, Theresa
and Maureen walked in. They were obviously
hurt and in distress from a car accident they
had had. Maureen was sore, but Theresa had
broken her collarbone—she could not play
the rest of the year. We went 2 and 2 in those
last four games.
The 1971-72 season started with the opening of our new gym in Alumnae Hall. Our own
court, our own home court was
beautiful, but without bleachers. We won our first 12 games
and were invited to play in the
first ever Regional Tournament.
The first two teams in our region
would qualify for the National
Tournament in Illinois.
We squeaked by the first three
opponents in the Regional and lost
70-38 to West Chester State in the
final game. We were still going to
the National Tournament, but now
we had to figure out how to raise
enough money to pay for the trip.
Through a campus–wide fundraiser, we raised enough money to take eight
of the 11 players to the tournament.
The Nationals were played in the same format
as the Regionals—Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday night and Sunday morning. Four
games in three days. We played our first game
and squeaked by our first opponent. I called the
College, collect, and they told all our friends and
families the news. I called Ed, and he said, “I’m
so proud of all of you, don’t be disappointed if
you lose.”
After a short celebration, we rested for our
next game. We won easily, and we called again—
“Don’t be disappointed if you lose.” We played
again that night and the fatigue was beginning
to catch up with the girls. Three games in less
than 24 hours was exhausting. Despite everything, we won and made our calls. This time
when I told Ed that we would play West Chester State for the national championship, he said,
“Don’t be disappointed when you lose.”
We won and flew home to a raucous crowd at
the airport. The rest is history. The low-key job
turned into an all-consuming one.
After many more successful years, women’s
basketball started offering scholarships. The day
of a small school being successful was gone.
I resigned in 1977 with the intention of taking
a year off from coaching and then returning the
following year. I never did coach again.
I found that I could run my summer basketball camps without having to give up my afternoons, evenings, and weekends. This allowed
me to stay at home with my boys, attend all their
school events and games, and still stay active
and teach during the summers.
Many years later, I was nominated for the
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. I was not selected that year. I received an e-mail from my
son, Ed Jr., that said, “You may not be a Hall
of Fame basketball coach, but you’re a Hall of
Fame mom.” That’s good enough for me.
Today, my younger son, Michael, runs our
camp programs which include basketball, field
hockey and day camps. His love for the camps,
and working with me, reinforces my decision to
be a full-time mom.
—CATHY RUSH
EDITOR’S NOTE: Coach Cathy Rush
was inducted into the Naismith Memorial
Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
11
Where it all began
T H E C R A D L E O F W O M E N ’ S B A S K E T B A L L WA S B U I LT
I N P H I L A D E L P H I A’ S B A C K Y A R D
W R I T T E N B y F ran k F it z patric k
T
he birth of modern women’s
basketball was a noisy one.
In the early 1970s, on Immaculata College’s leafy Chester
County campus, the groundbreaking success of that tiny Catholic
school’s team took place amid
the racket of spoons drumming
on metal buckets, the crackle of
a walkie-talkie that kept coach
Cathy Rush in touch with her husband, and
the clatter of wheelchairs in the normally silent
hallways of Camilla Hall.
“Camilla Hall is a place on Immaculata’s
campus where old and sick nuns are cared for,”
Rush recalls. “These nuns became so taken with
our success that they used to pipe in the radio
broadcasts of our games on the loudspeaker
system. If we were losing at halftime, someone
would come on the system and announce, ‘Sisters, the Mighty Macs are in trouble!’
“And just like that, you’d have all these old
nuns in wheelchairs or with canes and walkers
coming down the hallways toward the chapel,
gathering there for prayers to help us win.”
The younger Immaculate Heart of Mary
nuns attended games in person. And since
player Rene Muth’s father, Louis, owned a hardware store, they were provided with buckets and
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washboards that they smacked and scraped in
heavenly delight as the Mighty Macs won the
first three women’s national championships
between 1972 and 1974.
“You look back on that little school, with
all these nonscholarship players from the
Catholic League, and you wonder how we did
it,” says Denise Conway Crawford, who played
on those teams. “I was one of five girls from
Archbishop Prendergast [in Upper Darby] and I
was the only one who had played in high school.
“The only answer I have,” she says, “is that
it was providential.”
Today, nearly three decades after Rush’s
tunic-clad teams helped create the cultural
phenomenon, big-time women’s sports is a
television staple. Women’s basketball, particularly at the professional level, fills big arenas
in big cities. Not many people remember that
Immaculata was in at the start, playing the first
women’s contests at Madison Square Garden
and Philadelphia’s Spectrum.
More significantly, Immaculata’s success
inspired an army of coaches, many of them
Rush disciples. Her summer camps became
a mecca for anyone interested in learning the
game. In 1972, when Title IX suddenly required colleges to spend equitably on men’s and
women’s sports, schools raced to Rush’s camps
to fill their basketball programs with coaches
and players schooled in her technique.
Soon a “cheesesteak chain” of Philadelphia coaches such as Vivian Stringer, now at
Rutgers, Jim Foster of Vanderbilt, Connecticut’s
Geno Auriemma and three of Rush’s Immaculata starts—Theresa Shank Grentz, Marianne
Crawford Stanley and Rene Muth Portland—
stretched across the country. They became a
network of evangelists for a sleek and compelling sport, one that only a few years before had
been played with byzantine rules in cramped
gymnasiums by women in skirts.
Modern women’s basketball took root in
places like Storrs, Conn., Chattanooga, Tenn.,
and Los Angeles. Now there are universities where
women’s games outdraw the men’s. College teams
have multimillion-dollar budgets and play in huge
arenas. Women’s coaches get perks once reserved
for football coaches and college stars can even
keep playing after graduation in the WNBA.
Later this week, with hoopla and media
coverage unimaginable in 1972 when Immaculata won the first national tournament in
Normal, Ill., the Women’s Final Four will be
contested back in the cradle, Philadelphia. The
hallways at the arena, the glittering First Union
Center, will be packed with exhibits about the
game’s history. It’s a chronology that focuses
heavily on Philadelphia and the legend of the
Mighty Macs.
“It was like Camelot,” say Grentz, the 1992
Olympic coach who now is at Illinois. “I often
go back to Immaculata to be around all those
memories. It was wonderful.”
Ironically, Immaculata itself has gone
quiet. After being catapulted to prominence, its
program eventually was shoved into the Division III shadows. When Rush left at the end of
the 1977 season, she predicted that the demands
W
hy Philadelphia?
The Catholic League, with its
feed system of parochial school
teams, helped considerably. It
provided top-notch coaching and excellent
quality of play. An entire generation of early
stars such as June Olkowski and twins Mary
and Patty Coyle played in the league.
Very quickly this small university produced all sorts of intertwined connections.
Theresa Shank, for example, married Karl
Grentz, whose mother had coached Shank’s
Immaculata teammate Judy Marra Martelli at
St. Dorothy’s of Drexel Hill. Martelli met her
husband, St. Joseph’s men’s coach Phil Martelli,
at Rush’s summer camp. Through that camp,
Phil Martelli got his friend Geno Auriemma, who
worked with Jim Foster at Bishop McDevitt, an
assistant’s job at the University of Virginia.
They were like dandelions, popping up
everywhere, all somehow linked to a single
of Title IX and the heftier budgets of much
larger schools would doom Immaculata.
She was right.
Now it is the big state schools, the Connecticuts, Tennessees and North Carolinas that
dominate with their state-of-the-art facilities
and scholarship-laden teams. Wayland Baptist,
Delta State and Immaculata, the small colleges
that populated the game’s quaint early years, have
become nothing but curious historical footnotes.
“You see all these big schools spending all
this money on their women’s teams and it’s hard
to believe,” says Crawford, who today lives in
Havertown. “Our gym burned down in 1967
and we had to practice in the Motherhouse
across the street. When we went to the first
tournament, we had to sell toothbrushes to raise
enough money. And even then, only one coach
and eight of the girls could go. We flew standby,
stayed four in a room and washed our own
uniforms in the sink after every game.”
THE TEA MS WER E
“You can’t go anywhere without running
into coaches with a Philadelphia connection,”
said Auriemma, a Norristown native who has
won a national championship and built a powerhouse program at Connecticut. “It’s amazing.
It’s such a small world.”
None of the players on Immaculata’s
championship teams came to the school of
550 students specifically for basketball. But
most shared a common background. Portland
and Martelli had played at nearby Villa Maria
Academy, and the rest of the Mighty Macs had
attended Catholic League schools.
“These girls came to college having
experienced the Catholic League, the crowds,
the pressure, all that,” Rush says. “It was a big
advantage.”
In fact, Rush often scheduled scrimmages
against Catholic League teams, knowing
she’d find better competition there than at
other local colleges.
A C U R IOUS G ROU P.
S OM E W I T H G R E AT
T R A DI T IONS O T H E R S
W I T H NON E .
flower that bloomed briefly on the Immaculata
campus near Frazer. Soon the game caught on
in the Public League. In 1981, Dobbins’ Linda
Page became the first high school player to
score 100 points in a game. Within a decade,
Dawn Staley became one of the sport’s great
point guards.
13
Mary Scharff
(foreground), Mighty
Mac team player
1974, 1975, 1976,
1977 and Denise
Conway, Mighty Mac
team player 1972,
1973, and 1974
If Immaculata is the messiah in the story of
women’s basketball, then West Chester University, just a few miles to the southwest, is John
the Baptist, preparing the way.
Try to remember what women’s basketball was like in the late 1960s. Although it was
played at colleges and high schools, it barely
rose above the level of a gym-class pastime.
Girls in tunics played a rigidly controlled game
in which even the number of dribbles was regulated. There were no independent leagues, no
college scholarships and certainly no legitimate
professional leagues.
But during those years the Philadelphia
area was home to a relatively strong tradition
of women’s collegiate sports—even though
that competition generally took place in a
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vacuum, attracting little interest beyond the
campus walls.
“Way before anyone else, this area was at
the forefront of women’s sports,” says Mimi
Greenwood. In 1969 she headed women’s athletics at West Chester, though her title listed her
as an “adviser” to the school’s athletic director.
“Since probably as far back as the 1940s, there
were very successful field hockey, swimming
and lacrosse programs around here. There was
a kind of English tradition at work in the local
schools, a feeling that athletics ought to be a
part of a genteel woman’s education.”
That attitude, Greenwood says, can be traced
to Constance Appleby, an English-born professor
at Bryn Mawr College who introduced field hockey to the United States early in the 20th century.
“She was definitely at the forefront of
women’s sports,” Greenwood says. “She believed
that athletics contributed to the well-rounded
woman just as it did the well-rounded man.”
Appleby died in 1981 at the age of 107.
Despite that liberal attitude, basketball was
considered too rough-and-tumble for genteel
women, and by the late 1960s it was still a very
minor sport at most local colleges.
“When I was first asked to start a [women’s
basketball rankings] poll in the mid-’70s, I
resisted,” says Inquirer sportswriter Mel Greenberg. “The philosophy of the AIAW [the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, the
first overarching national regulatory body for the
sport] was that if we started getting newspaper
stories about women’s basketball, it would open
them up to all the evils of the men’s game.”
Still, if women’s basketball ever was going
to take off, Philadelphia figured to be the place
it would happen.
“It’s not surprising that the women’s game
kind of took root here, because there was a
pretty unique tradition in Philadelphia,” says
Greenwood, now retired and living in Aldan,
Pa. “The high schools, particularly in Delaware
County, had some strong teams and rivalries.
So did colleges like Penn, Temple, Ursinus and
West Chester.
“And there were a number of basketball
leagues for older women, usually affiliated with
their workplaces,” she says. “There were nursing
leagues and teachers leagues and one known as
the warehouse league because its players worked
at the old American Stores warehouses.”
West Chester, because its education-based
curriculum traditionally attracted women
and because it had a strong physical education
department, was particularly strong in women’s
athletics. Lucille Kyvallos of West Chester
coached a young woman named Cathy Rush in
the mid-1960s. Later Carol Eckman coached
teams that were among the first to drop the sixplayer format in favor of men’s rules.
At the time, the National Collegiate
Athletic Association was strictly a men’s club.
There was no women’s equivalent to the men’s
postseason NCAA Tournament or even the NIT.
Women’s sports were regulated informally by an
ad hoc committee of educators called the Division of Girls and Women’s Sports (DGWS).
women’s basketball into the periphery of bigKyvallos and later Eckman, with the bless- before the tournament at a salary of $450 per
time sports. In fact, the Mighty Macs’ 1975
year. Her 1971 team played 12 games against
ing of West Chester athletic director Robert
game against Maryland was the first women’s
driving-distance opponents. They won 10.
Reese, began to urge the DGWS to institute
contest to be nationally televised. They played
Urged by her husband to challenge the
some sort of postseason basketball tournament
Queens College at Madison Square Garden
women with more competitive foes, Rush upfor the better women’s teams. They realized it
and drew 11,969 fans. National publications
graded the schedule for the ’71-’72 season. The
wouldn’t be an easy task.
chronicled the curious story of this tiny college
Outside of the individual schools and their team went 24-1 and in the insular world of Immaculata’s campus became a phenomenon. Rush with its noisy, prayerful fan base.
opponents, who knew anything about these
By 1977, when Immaculata was eliminated
was a pioneer. She incorporated physical picks and
teams? They got little fan support and even
by LSU in the national semifinals, Rush saw the
trapping defenses into her teaching, something
less media coverage. And since women’s rules
game’s future taking shape. The NCAA would
wouldn’t become standardized until 1971, there other women’s coaches were slow to accept.
take over the tournament in 1982, ensuring
“So many of the women’s coaches there
was no objective way to judge a team’s quality.
were older. They had been raised on the six-on- the big schools would be the best positioned to
Schools in different states played with widely
recruit and spend money. Something special—
varied guidelines. Some used men’s rules, some six games, so naturally they were less likely to
incorporate anything new into their teaching,” the innocence, the fun—would be sacrificed.
a shot clock. Others played with three women
stationed on each side of half-court. Still others says Marra Martelli, a reserve on Rush’s cham- So Rush quit and, despite numerous offers to
pionship teams. “Cathy wasn’t afraid to use that return, has stayed away from coaching.
employed a hybrid game where five offensive
Now, wherever Rush or her players go,
stuff. She wasn’t afraid to step over the line.
players went against six defenders.
they are asked about the Mighty Macs by those
After years of lobbying, Eckman finally got She’d have coaches like Jim Valvano [of North
Carolina State] and Herbie Magee [of what was who witnessed the phenomenon and those who
permission to plan the event in 1969.
wished they had.
The 16 teams that competed in the Nation- then Philadelphia Textile] come to her camps,
“It was crazy,” Rush says. “It was wonderand she’d pick their brains.”
al Invitational Collegiate Women’s Basketball
ful. It will never happen again.”
Immaculata’s only loss that season came,
Tournament at West Chester that March were
not surprisingly, to West Chester’s 70-38 druba curious amalgam—small and large schools,
bing in the final of the regional qualifying porsome with great men’s basketball traditions,
REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION
tion of the tournament.
others with none. They were: West Chester,
from the P hiladelphia I n q uirer
Both were invited to the AIAW finals in
Western Carolina, Iowa Wesleyan, Iowa, North( S unday, M arch 2 6 , 2 0 0 0 )
Normal, Ill., but Immaculata, seeded 15th out
eastern, Lynchburg, Southern Connecticut,
C opyright © 2 0 1 1
Ohio State, Purdue, Kentucky, Dayton, Ursinus, of 16 teams, wasn’t sure it could make the trip.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The team eventually sold enough toothbrushes
Central Michigan, Ball State, Southern Illinois
to get a traveling party of nine to Normal.
and Towson State.
In the final game,
which according to
In fact, the Mighty Macs’ 1975 game against Maryland was
newspaper accounts
attracted about 2,000
the first women’s contest to be nationally televised. They played
fans to Hollinger Fieldhouse, West Chester
Queens College at Madison Square Garden and drew 11,969 fans.
defeated Western
National publications chronicled the curious story of this
Carolina.
By 1972 Title IX
tiny college with its noisy, prayerful fan base.
was law, the tiny National Invitational was
In the finals, they met West Chester again.
history and the AIAW hosted its first national
“That was a team that might have beaten
tournament with a different collection of 16
us nine out of 10 times,” Crawford recalls. “But
teams, including Immaculata.
like I said, there was something providential at
“We had no idea what a tournament like
work. And we won [52-48].”
that was,” Immaculata’s Crawford says. “It just
Rush’s club would win the AIAW crown
wasn’t something any of us had any experience
again in ’73 and ’74, and then lost in two
with. But Cathy was so competitive that we
straight championship games to Delta State of
knew she’d get us ready.”
Louisiana. But by then the Macs had pushed
Rush was hired by Immaculata one year
15
Immaculata girls
T op W e st C h e st e r S tat e 52 - 4 8
B y G eorge H easlip
I
t was a little like Santa Barbara Junior College dumping the UCLA cagers or Delaware
County Community College thumping the
Penn Quakers.
There’s just no way to describe the immensity of
Immaculata’s upset 52-48 win over mighty West
Chester State in the finals of the National Women’s
Invitational Basketball Tournament yesterday.
Here they were, on one hand Carol Eckman’s
mighty West Chester State cagers …unbeaten
throughout the season…always considered a national power among women’s basketball teams…
On the other hand, Cathy Rush’s Immaculata
basketball team. Pretty good one, but…
No way the Immaculata club could stay with
West Chester State in the battle of the neighbors
who were playing out in Normal, Illinois for the
national championship.
Oh, Immaculata had some impressive credentials
going into the final tilt. The Malvern cagers had won
24 during the season and only lost once. However,
that loss was a real thumping…a 70-38 defeat a week
ago at Towson, Maryland in the eastern finals. Guess
who beat the Macs? Right—West Chester.
It didn’t take Immaculata’s unheralded team long
16
to become the darling of the fans at the tournament
out in Illinois. The Macs opened up by beating
South Dakota State 50-47 in the first round.
Win Thriller
Then came a thriller against Indiana State…a big
favorite. Cathy Rush’s quintet won that one 49-47,
but that appeared to be it as the next obstacle was
Mississippi State College for Women, the top seed in
the 16-team tourney.
In her nightly call to her husband, Ed Rush, the
NBA ref who was busy on the West Coast, Cathy
reported that she thought her Macs had a chance.
“Don’t be upset if you don’t win,” counseled the
veteran cage official. “You’ve come a lot farther than
most people thought you could.”
Nevertheless, Immaculata went right at the
defending champions and eked out another win,
this one a 46-43 thriller, to advance into Sunday
afternoon’s final.
Meanwhile, West Chester State’s Ramettes were
having things pretty easy in the first couple of
games, ripping Utah State 79-45 and Northern Illinois 66-54 before tackling a tiger in California State
at Fullerton in the semi-final.
Carol Eckman’s WCS quintet squeaked through
that one for a one-point win to gain the finals.
There was no doubt but that the Macs of tiny Immaculata were the darlings of the crowd yesterday.
This was Cinderella stuff at its best…the little school
with less than 800 students and no physical education program to speak of against its big neighbor
with its national reputation.
“We decided to play patient basketball,” an exhausted Cathy Rush reported too early this morning
when a reporter woke her with his phone call. “Last
week they killed us inside and we were determined
not to let this happen again,” the Macs coach said.
Good Matchups
“I started Rene Muth (a 5’ 10” freshman) to
help give us some good matchups and, along with
Theresa Shank who played Jackie Johnson (West
Chester’s fine 6’ 0”), they gave us some good D,”
recalled Cathy in her best Jack Ramsey manner.
“One of the big keys was the playmaking of Denise Conway who moved the ball well against West
Chester’s 2-2-1 zone press. She had three options
when she got upcourt and she utilized them all well.”
That the Macs’ defensive strategy worked would
L-R: (Top row)
Cathy Rush
(coach), Janet
Young, Sue
O’Grady, Janet
Ruch, Judy
Marra, Rene
Mack (student
manager), (Bottom
row) Maureen
Stuhlman, Rene
Muth, Patricia
Opila, Maureen
Mooney, Theresa
Shank, Denise
Conway
be a gross understatement. The man-to-man (or is
it woman-to-woman or player-to-player) worked to
near perfection as the underdogs roared to a 24-9
lead early in the second period.
Then young Miss Muth got into deep foul trouble
and had to sit out the rest of the first half.
Her absence was felt as Carol Eckman’s Ramettes
came racing back, their fast break pouring in bucket
after bucket to close the gap at intermission to 25-20.
However, after the break, Rene Muth returned,
and the Macs went on another tear, opening up leads
of 10 and 12 points before the West Chester State
quintet came on again, closing to 44-42 with just
over two and a half minutes left in the game.
On e th i ng , f or
sur e . T h e y ’ r e
g oi ng t o hav e
t o cha ng e
that n ic k na m e .
No mor e “Macs .”
How a b out “ T h e
M ig hty Macs ? ”
Theresa Shank Scores Again
With the good-sized Illinois crowd screaming for
the Macs, the 6’ 0” Theresa Shank took things into
her own hands. The sophomore star—a teammate
of West Chester’s Janet Larkin at Cardinal O’Hara
High School—ripped in five straight points as the
Immaculata quintet locked up the victory.
It was a strange kind of reunion out in Illinois for
both Immaculata and West Chester. During the season, the Macs had defeated the Ramettes’ number
III team but had not played Carol Eckman’s varsity
until last week at Towson.
Cathy Rush is a former West Chester State player
herself, having played under Lucille Kyvallos who
also was on hand at Normal over the weekend with
her Queens College (New York) team, which wound
up in the consolation bracket.
Theresa Shank ended up the play yesterday as the
big heroine with 26 of Immaculata’s points while
Rene Muth had 10 as did Maureen Stuhlman. The
playmaking Denise Conway wound up with four
and Maureen Mooney tossed in one field goal while
Janet Ruch went scoreless.
Mac Defense Pays Off
For West Chester, Sandy Holt tossed in 17, but no
other Ramette could get into double figures against
the rugged Mac defense. Janet Larkin ended with
nine as did Jane Fontaine. However, Rene Muth
held her opponent to just three points while Theresa
Shank, in addition to her big offensive contribution,
limited the normally high-scoring Jackie Johnson to
three points.
And, thus, Immaculata won the “Battle of
Chester County,” which was staged nearly 1,000
miles to the west.
Last night, nearly 500 Immaculata supporters
jammed into Philadelphia’s International Airport to
welcome the Macs home with their national championship trophy.
One thing, for sure. They’re going to have to
change that nickname.
No more “Macs.”
How about “The Mighty Macs”?
R eprinted with permission
from the D aily L ocal N ews
( M O N D AY, M A R C H 2 0 , 1 9 7 2 )
17
Message from the Athletic Director
Everyone loves a feel-good sports story
where the underdogs overcome
the odds on an unpredictable
journey. Yet, no story in college
hoops seems as heartwarming
as the story of the Mighty
Macs and their three national
championships—victories
that have glorified a small
but mighty institution.
The first Immaculata Mighty Macs
in the 1970s were an elite squad, with
more than enough star power to win the
hearts of thousands of fans. The Mighty Macs’ success
shook up the country, and the team became known for
advancing women’s college basketball. It’s a tale that
the Immaculata community will forever cherish and
continue to tell through many more basketball seasons.
Since then, many more players have spent their collegiate
careers as Mighty Macs. They have heard stories, browsed
photos, and paged through articles that highlight this
magical time, while marveling at the walls adorned
with national championship banners and All-American
accolades. Although the glory days were long ago, most
still love to talk about them today. And this time in
history has left an enduring imprint on Immaculata.
Perhaps the most significant contributor to the
Mighty Macs’ success is that they retained that one
thing that often equalizes the big and the small in
basketball: confidence. It was there for the taking,
but often the one thing small schools were not able to
harness. But today, because of the first Mighty Macs’
legacy of confidence, any player that has dressed
in an Immaculata women’s basketball uniform
knows that she is a part of something grand.
As a former Mighty Mac myself, as the women’s basketball
head coach, and as Immaculata’s athletic director, I am
pleased to share in this heritage. I am awed by the team’s
history, and I will continue to share their story with
future Immaculatans. Immaculata women’s basketball is
a pastime for some, but a passion for so many others. It’s
about history, it’s about opportunity, and it’s about talent.
Patty Canterino
Athletic Director/Head Women’s Basketball Coach
18
An original Mighty Macs women’s
basketball team uniform from
1972 and authentic player’s
socks. The sneakers are similar to
those worn by the team.
From Karl, Karl & Kevin
19
20
Mighty Macs three-time
All-American Theresa
Shank was featured in
Sports Illustrated on April
9, 1973. After graduating
from Immaculata in 1974
with a degree in biology
and minor in chemistry,
she went on to become
one of the winningest
coaches in Division I
women’s basketball and
was the 1992 U.S. Olympic
coach and past president
of the WBCA. Today,
Theresa Shank Grentz
is the vice president for
university advancement
for her alma mater.
21
22
Telegram from the President of the United States Richard M. Nixon
I GHHTTYYMMAACCSS. C. COOMM
WWWWWW. Y. YEEAARROOF FTTHHEEMMI G
23
23
For more information
Verizon and AT&T customers text the JAGTAG to 5 2 4 8 2 4
All others text or email the
picture to iu@jagtag.com
Messaging and data rates may apply. For terms & conditions, visit w w w.j a g t a g . c o m / t
24
www.
Year
Of The
.com
Legendary Immaculata Mighty Macs
Women’s Basketball Team Subject of
New Commemorative Website
I
n celebration of Immaculata University’s national championship women’s basketball teams, a comprehensive website has
been launched at www.YearoftheMightyMacs.com. This technological tribute includes rarely seen photographs from the University’s
archives, videos, audio recordings as well as an interactive scrapbook
and historic program books.
As part of the 40th anniversary year celebration of the first championship season (1971-72), the dynamic website is a tribute to the
women credited as heroes of American intercollegiate athletics. The
Mighty Macs website is a valuable resource for sports scholars and
researchers interested in the history of women’s athletics.
Considered to be the birthplace of modern college women’s basketball, Immaculata’s Mighty Macs won three consecutive national
college women’s basketball championships in 1972, 1973 and 1974.
Another milestone includes Immaculata playing the University
of Maryland in the first nationally televised women’s college basketball game.
Mighty Macs Head Coach Cathy Rush was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. Her record at Immaculata University (then College) was 149-15. In total, Rush had six
Final Four appearances during her coaching tenure from 1970-1977
with the Mighty Macs.
The website was designed and constructed by Immaculata’s Vice
President for University Communications Bob Cole, Director of Web
Design and Analytic Marketing Seth Kovanic and Director of Graphic
Design Michael Nuñez.
25
FOREWORD
Written by
Sister Marian William Hoben, IHM,
Immaculata University
President emerita
Some of us like books that make us
laugh; some prefer those that move us to
tears. There are readers among us who
want to learn from what we read, while
many prefer simply to be reminded of what
we already know. Perhaps we may hope that
the pages we peruse will open new vistas
for us, or lead us to delve into unexplored
territories or unexamined theories. Then
there are those who want to be inspired,
or guided, or motivated. Many of us find
ourselves searching for books that assure
us that, yes, we can “go home” again. Others
long, more than anything else, to encounter
ideas, thoughts, and values that echo
our own—integrity, generosity, respect
for others and their special gifts—and
perhaps lead us to an examination of those
values in our own lives. And, if the truth be
told, the majority of us are actually seeking
a good story, something that will entertain
us, making us see, at the same time, that
real happiness is found in a strong faith,
loving parents, and irreplaceable friends.
If, for you, a “good read” is one that
includes any of the above, this brief book
A M e m ’ ry Fa i r : A C e l e br at ion
o f Immac u l a t a Ba s k e t b a l l
B y T heresa S han k G rent z ’ 7 4
As told to Dick Weiss and Joan Williamson
For those of us from Immaculata
who won the first three women’s
intercollegiate national basketball
tournaments in 1972, 1973, and
1974, it was a very special place
and a very special time. We came
out of nowhere—or so it seemed—
and changed the face of women’s
basketball in the country.
W
will be just what you are looking for. The
engaging author, Theresa Shank Grentz,
gives us an inside glimpse of an unusual
segment of sports history—the winning
of the AIAW first national title for three
consecutive years, and the circumstances
that led up to, and surrounded, it. It is
a story laid in a time of innocence when
hard work, a fierce determination to win, a
saving sense of humor, and real teamwork
were the norm. The reading will be a “looking back” for many adults, and a “looking
forward” for the young.
26
e were lucky, some said. But we knew
it was a combination of the right
players, with the right coach, at the right
time. When you factored in our fierce
determination to win, our ability to work hard, and
our willingness to sacrifice for a common goal, we
were unstoppable.
It was our time. We knew it. We ran with it. We loved
it. We have never forgotten it. And we never will. It was
our Camelot. But to truly understand our story, it is
important to understand our university.
Immaculata, the first Catholic women’s college in the
Philadelphia area, was founded in 1920 as Villa Maria
College by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart
of Mary, who purchased 198 wooded acres in Chester
County and built the school on the top of the tallest hill
in Frazer, Pa., 30 miles west of Philadelphia.
The original campus architecture, including the
imposing green dome of the administration building,
was constructed in the Italian Renaissance style. Priests
and Sisters were the primary instructors. The setting
was secluded, serene, and quiet. It was a special place.
It still is.
But what makes Immaculata so unique is its legacy,
the gift of its founder, Mother Camilla. School history
has it that Mother Camilla looked up at that noble
Original Mighty Macs from L-R: Theresa Shank, Rene Muth,
Patricia Opila, Janet Young, Denise Conway, Janet Ruch,
Maureen Stuhlman, Maureen Mooney, Cathy Rush
hill and saw a school where everyone else saw
farmland. It was 1906. Women were less educated;
there was no money; women didn’t have the vote.
But Mother had an angel on her shoulder.
Not only did she build her college, she also
realized that her Sisters needed to be educated
and certified. A few of them had entered the
congregation right from high school. She sent
them out to teach and brought them back to
campus in the summer to learn. She brought in
professors from other colleges and universities
to teach her Sisters.
When I came back to work at my alma
mater in the summer of 2007, I wanted to know
more about the founding of the school. I wanted
to research my information in the community
and University archives. But the Sisters told
me: “Theresa, the congregation’s archives are
private. They are not open to the public.”
I can be really focused when I want something, so I said, “I know what I’m asking
for—a favor.” I can also be very persistent.
Two weeks later, Sister Marita David, Immaculata’s archivist, escorted me into the archives
of the IHM Motherhouse.
These amazing records revealed all kinds
of treasures. Among other valuable papers,
they include various handbooks that date
back to the original Motherhouse in West
Chester. Arranged carefully in black binders are
remembrances of deceased Sisters written by
other Sisters who knew them well. And it was
there that I came upon a wealth of important
data on Mother Camilla. I pulled out the book
and sat at the table to read the information
carefully. I reached the bottom of a page where
I read, “The troublesome we attack right away.”
I turned to the top of the next page: “The
impossible takes a little longer.”
27
This was Mother Camilla—100 years ago. I
couldn’t breathe. For I realized that I had heard this
very quote only two weeks before at a leadership
conference. And now, on this second encounter
with it, I determined it would be the motto of my
new work as a development officer at Immaculata.
I began to breathe more easily.
But if Mother had made the place, we had made
the time. We had defied the odds and captured the
imagination of an entire nation. When we played,
there was no ulterior motive or financial gain for
anyone involved. We paid our own tuition. There
were no athletic scholarships for women in those
Youth Organization (CYO) League that used old,
six-players-on-a-side rules. Half court, limited
dribbles, two rovers. I didn’t want to play that way.
I’d cheat like mad to make it up the court in three
dribbles, walking before I started and walking
after I finished.
At Cardinal O’Hara High School, where we
won three Catholic League championships in four
years, we were still playing six-player basketball.
By the time I got to college the women’s rules
changed to five-on-five full court basketball.
We loved it.
And it showed.
We knew it was a combination of the right players with
the right coach at the right time. When you added in our
fierce determination to win, our ability to work hard
and our willingness to sacrifice for a common goal, we
were unstoppable.
—T heresa S hank Grent z
days before the passage of Title IX in 1972, which
mandated the same opportunities for us as for
men on the athletic fields. Our coach, Cathy Rush,
was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in
2008, but never made more than $1,200 a year.
We had no athletic budget. We sold
toothbrushes to raise money to fly to our first
national tournament in Normal, Illinois. We had
to set up 500 folding chairs before each home
game because there were no bleachers. And there
was no professional league for women the way
there was for men.
In one game, we made a point of feeding one
of our players, Maureen Stuhlman, the ball so she
could have a big scoring night and get her picture
in Herm Rogul’s column, People in the Crowd
in the old Evening Bulletin. Can you imagine
padding someone’s stats today just so she could get
a snapshot in the newspaper?
But she promised to buy us Chinese for dinner.
But at least we could play like the men now.
Growing up, I learned to play by competing
against older boys in my neighborhood. But
when it came to playing organized basketball,
I played for Our Lady of Fatima in a Catholic
28
Today there are reminders of our success on the
campus. Three national championship banners
hang from the rafters of the gym in Alumnae Hall,
as do the retired uniforms of Marianne Crawford,
Mary Scharff, and me.
Immaculata had a chance to celebrate its
glorious heritage in October 2010 when the NBA
Philadelphia 76ers offered us a chance to sponsor
their home opener against the Miami Heat at
the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia.
Immaculata’s new vice president, Bob Cole, who
has a bold view of marketing, jumped at the
opportunity because he felt it would be a great
venue to give our growing university some welldeserved exposure when the 76ers offered to
honor the members of our three-championship
teams at halftime.
The game was sold out. On the national
sports scene, everyone was talking about
LeBron James. After all, this would be his only
appearance in Philadelphia. However, if you
were in the concourses of the Wells Fargo Center
or listened to the conversation in the seat next to
you, it was about how important that time was
in the history of women’s sports. Our night with
the 76ers was bathed in Immaculata blue.
During an honorary tip-off, I accompanied our president, Sister Patricia Fadden, to
half-court to deliver the game ball to the officials. Our chorale sang the national anthem.
Our dance team performed. There were team
pictures on the Jumbotron, and the words,
“Find Your Higher Power,” jumped out on the
signage board on the side of the scorers’ table.
At halftime, nine of us – Marianne Crawford
Stanley, Marie Ligouri Williams, Janet Ruch Boltz,
Denise Conway Crawford, Janet Young Eline, Judy
Marra Martelli, Sue Forsyth O’Grady, Betty Ann
Hoffman Quinn, and I – were escorted to halfcourt where we were honored for our pioneering
contributions to the sport. The event was firstclass all the way.
It would be difficult for most basketball fans
today to name the starting lineups of those teams, and
the young coach who brought national attention to
our tiny liberal arts college with its then-enrollment
of just 782 students. But what does resonate is that
our experience harkens back to a more innocent
time – a time when women’s college athletics were
extra-curricular activities, not just a revenue stream,
and which created a lasting impression for a group of
people who played for the love of the game.
I was privileged to be part of those teams.
And I feel honored to be part of any celebration
involving them because what we accomplished
was so great. In Camelot. Almost 40 years ago.
And now we get to do it again. Wow!
Most people don’t get to celebrate their
championships like that. Folks often ask me,
“How many more times do you think you can do
this? And I say, “As long as we’re still able to do it.”
It’s an evergreen story.
Our journey has now become a movie called
The Mighty Macs, a fictionalized version of our
experiences. Immaculata put together a black-tie,
red-carpet screening as a fundraiser at the Franklin
Institute in Philadelphia. In true Hollywood fashion,
we provided a photo-op for our guests to pose with
the three crystal national championship trophies
recently acquired by Immaculata. They are replicas
of the NCAA tournament championship trophies
which were not available when we won the games.
Oh, well, better late than never!
CHAPTER 1
I grew up in a row house in Glenolden, a middle-class neighborhood in Delaware County,
Pennsylvania. My parents were simple people who had great faith—in their church, in
their children, and in themselves. Family was everything to them.
M
y father, John, was a selector at the A&P warehouse on
Baltimore Pike. My mother, Chris, was a nurse at Fitzgerald
Mercy Hospital in Darby. She is now 81 years old, and she
recently published a book chronicling the genealogy of our
family. She is a remarkable woman. I always felt that if I had a little bit of
the talent she has, I would be really successful. You see, I have always
believed that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. My parents had
five children. I was the oldest, followed by Michael, Donna Marie,
Chuck, and Anthony.
Our house had only one bathroom. If anything, that taught us
teamwork. Eventually, my father knocked out the garage and put in a
powder room. Back then, that made us part of the elite. But we didn’t
know that!
My father wasn’t really a sports person. He took a lot of flak
from people asking him, “Why are you letting your daughter play
with the boys?” My grandmother, his mother, thought that was very
unladylike. It didn’t faze him. He believed in me.
When I was in the sixth grade, I learned to play basketball by
competing against the guys. There were five boys on our block, so I
was the sixth player. They were all older than I, but they let me play
with them.
Boys pick their teams based on ability; girls choose on the basis
of popularity. Two boys could be arguing, even engaged in fisticuffs,
but although the chooser might be doing battle with the best player,
I guarantee that he would not hesitate to select that fellow for his
team. Girls, on the other hand, choose their best friends, or the most
popular, or the one who has the best clothes. It’s ridiculous.
I had the privilege of being taught basketball by the guys. I carefully
observed just how they chose teams. Since I was a girl, they were very
hesitant about selecting me. Once I proved myself, I was no longer
a skirt. I was one of them. To the guy who chose me, I was the best
available player. The only fellow who was upset was the one whom I
replaced because he was a terrible player. He was the guy who thought
I had no business being out there playing after all.
Michael Tomasso and Ralph Menichini were pretty good athletes.
The key for me was always to watch guys like the two of them play.
Afterwards, I would ask them, “How did you do that?” Then I’d
practice. Johnny Testino was another source of bottomless knowledge.
He managed to be sent to summer basketball camp. I pestered that kid
to no end: “What do they teach you at summer camp?” “What did you
learn last week at camp?” “What drills or new plays have you been
practicing?” After a while, he just said, “T.C., why don’t you just shut
up?” (They called me T.C. for Top Cat.) This early experience not only
taught me the fundamentals of the game, it also got me out of helping
my mother clean the house.
We played basketball by shooting a ball through the telephone
wires and the kitchen window. Ma Bell’s repair men had a fit because
we separated those wires, which would cause interference on the party
lines people had back then. The service truck came by. We ran. They
fixed the wires. They left.
We went back to playing.
At the time I was growing up, a girl couldn’t go to a playground and
play ball with the guys. And a girl was not expected to wear sneakers.
God forbid that I should wear a pair of Chuck Taylor sneakers! Since
I couldn’t do that, I played in loafers. Just imagine how many pairs of
loafers I went through!
When I was 13, my father put up a court behind our house. There was
one parking space behind each house on our block. I was always thinking,
always trying to figure out a way to play basketball, and I had this great
idea: “Okay, this would be so much better if this were a bigger court.” I
talked our next door neighbor, Mr. Lenten, into letting us put the pole
between the two properties. And that’s where I developed my outside
shot. And my reputation preceded me. Sort of.
Michael Arizin was a big star on the boys’ team at O’Hara after
I graduated. We started talking about old times recently, and he
reminded me that when he was younger, he came to our neighborhood
looking for a pick-up game. He asked some of my friends who was the
best player on our block. “Well,” they told him, “It’s a kid we call ‘Top
Cat.’” “I want to play him,” Michael said. “It’s not a him,” they told
Michael. “It’s a her.” It’s stories like that which never fail to amuse me.
I met my husband of more than 35 years (Karl Grentz) about that
same time. He was our paper boy. Karl was a year older than I, and
we grew up together. I lived at 110 Stratford Road, and our house was
smack in the middle of the unit. Karl lived about seven blocks away.
The first time we met, I was, naturally, in my basketball uniform.
He was standing on a stoop, looking up at me. He was wearing those
29
Buddy Holly glasses and seemed, to me at least, to be rather short.
Needless to say, he grew taller with the years. We started dating, if you
can call it that, when I was in the eighth grade. I still remember that
first date. We went to a carnival at Our Lady of Fatima Parish.
When he was in high school, he always had two or three jobs going
at the same time, one of which I recall was at the Farmer’s Market.
He was a real go-getter, so it came as no surprise that he was also
the only kid on the block who had money and a car. But he had his
limits when shooting a basketball. Swinging at a baseball was another
matter. Karl was excellent at that sport, but I was not interested in
playing baseball. We played a lot of pick-up ball on Stratford Road,
and, strangely enough, his unorthodox shooting form really didn’t
seem to matter. Ah, young love!
My mother never played sports herself, but she certainly
understands their value. When we were growing up, her message
to all of us was, “Don’t give up. Find a way.” When there was a
problem, she never yelled, “You can’t do that!” Instead she would
suggest, “Let’s figure out what we’re going to do. Let’s find a way
to make this happen.”
When it was time to enter ninth grade at Cardinal O’Hara, tryouts
for the basketball team were coming up, and I was, of course, nervous.
Every day she would ask me, “Did they post the sign-up sheets yet?”
And she would always add, “If you want to be a leader, step in front.
Take responsibility.”
One day when I was out back playing ball, I made a stupid mistake.
I can’t remember ever feeling so certain that my “budding career” was
going nowhere – and that now was the time to pitch the whole idea of
finding a future in sports. I threw the ball in the air, not bothering to
retrieve it, stomped into the kitchen, up to my bedroom, yelling at the top
of my voice, “This is it for me. I don’t need this crazy game. These hours
30
and hours of practice, and I’m still playing like a beginner. I’m through
with all this. For once and for all, I’m finished. I quit!”
Of course, the window was open, and my mother overheard all that
I had said. She stormed up the stairs and lit into me: “Theresa, you have
a God-given talent. You have absolutely no right to throw it back into
His face. You have a responsibility to use that talent for Him and for His
people. Use it!”
Then she gave me this little card with the poem on it which read:
“Don’t quit!” Holy Moley! I never did that again. And I made the varsity.
We won the Catholic League Championship my first three years at
O’Hara. The title game was always played at the Palestra and always sold
out – before 8,100 fans. Because we played in the afternoon, all the girls
in both high schools would go to the game. The two schools would take
13, 14, 15 bus loads to the gym, which was located on the campus of the
University of Pennsylvania in West Philadelphia. The students would
scream for the entire game. I was hoping to make it four championship
games in a row in my senior year, but we lost to West Catholic.
I had always planned on going to college. I really wanted to study
physical education, so I thought about enrolling at Ursinus or West
Chester State. But my father said his daughter was not going to spend her
life in a gym, so that ruled out those two options. I applied for and won
a full academic scholarship to Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Md., to
study science. That’s where I was going.
My mother wanted me to stay closer to home. Her personal choice
for me was Immaculata. I had been taught by the IHMs in grade school
and high school, and I wanted a different experience. But my mother
was insistent. So, without telling her, I applied and had my interview
set up for the 15th of March, the Ides of March. I figured I’d just get a
ride out to the school, have the interview, and make everybody happy.
But that Sunday morning, our house burned down. My mother,
father, Anthony, and I were home that day.
My little sister and my two brothers were
at the children’s nine o’clock Mass. A basket
of clothing next to the furnace had caught
fire. I was upstairs at the time and heard my
Marianne
mother shouting, using that voice she had
Crawford
challenges
when something was terribly wrong. I came
the West
downstairs, realized how upset she was, and
Chester
saw smoke. My father had burned his arms
State
and hands in an effort to extinguish the fire.
defense.
All of us got out, but by the time the fire
department arrived, it was too late to save the
house. I still remember one of the firemen
saying, “I hope everyone got out.” My parents
lost everything. So did I.
That afternoon, I decided family came
first, and I made re-arrangements for my
interview. I borrowed a pair of shoes and a suit
and went out to Immaculata. The first thing I
did when I arrived was to ask to be directed
to the Financial Aid Office. I had no money.
It was March. All the scholarships were taken.
When I was accepted, I had no idea how I was
going to pull this off. I couldn’t afford to live on campus, and I didn’t have
a car to commute. It was definitely a wing-and-a-prayer situation!
But I had already met my first guardian angel. Maureen Mooney
had played for St. Hubert’s in the Northern Division of the Catholic
League. She was now a freshman at Immaculata, a year older than I,
and when I came for my interview, she spent the entire day with me.
We immediately hit it off. She was one of the main reasons I came to
the school.
After the fire, my family stayed in a local motel for two weeks. Then
we went to live with my grandmother in Havertown. We finally moved
back into our home that fall. And I moved into a new world.
In 1970, I matriculated at Immaculata and went from a school
of 4,000 to a school of 782. It really was a convent. Because all the
Sisters came to our campus, the same convent rules were in effect. We
couldn’t go out after 7 p.m. at night because the doors were locked. If
we left by the front door, we had to be properly dressed. If we weren’t,
we had to leave by the back door.
We had assigned places in the dining room. We didn’t sit just
anywhere. All these customs were part of the IHM way. That’s what
they did. So that’s what we did. The school had its traditions. It still
has. Charter Day is big at our school. It is celebrated on November 12
each year. That’s the day the college was granted its charter in 1920.
And that’s the day the freshman class is invested into the college (now
University) community. During the Charter Day ceremonies, these firstyear students, wearing academic garb for the first time, approach the
podium at which the president is standing in the Rotunda, to be formally
welcomed as members of the Immaculata community. At this time and
until after graduation, they wear the tassels of their mortar boards on the
right side. At graduation, they will move them to the left.
Then, there’s Carol Night just before Christmas. We have a huge
decorated tree standing in the Rotunda. The senior class processes in
their academic attire. We all sing carols and the Baby Jesus is carried in
and placed in His crèche. In the past, following the ceremony, we were
told that the Baby Jesus did some very strange things. He was frequently
being reported missing. Sometimes He reappeared in the elevator,
sometimes ending up in a dorm room or lab. There were messages
left all over. “I’m lost; I can’t get home.” “Can you take me back to my
Mommy?” The Baby Jesus apparently made the rounds. It sometimes
reminded us of that Disney movie, Trouble with Angels.
It seems that today, to prevent such occurrences, the Sisters keep Him
in a safe place.
I’ve met women from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s who love to share
interesting lore of the school. And even in their adult years, they seem
to enjoy repeating ridiculous stories about raids on the kitchen, ice
cream that melted over the fire escape in Villa, Mary Doherty’s famous
(infamous?) Jell-O fights, the filling of the basement swimming pool
(aka, the Roman Bath) with laundry soap, and so on. College life has
changed considerably throughout the years, but the inclination to play
pranks remains constant.
There was a lot of rebellion on college campuses around the country
over the Vietnam War. We held prayer services in Chapel for our wounded
soldiers, but we saved our real protests for social reform on campus. For
example, we had a regulation dress code that mandated all students to
wear skirts or dresses on campus. This same rule insisted that “no skin”
be allowed to show between the hem of the skirt or dress and the top of the
knee socks. Furthermore, if you were seen leaving campus with such skin
showing, your parents were contacted to send you back to campus. This
same dress code forbade wearing slacks – which was probably the “big
issue” while I was there. If you ask the alumnae of that era, the students
eventually won the “slacks battle”; others may have different opinions.
There were three standard items in our wardrobe that were
very important to college life: our academic gown, our mortar
board, and a small white collar called a “dickey.” Any time there
was an academic function, we wore the academic gown – like Mr.
Chips. In those days, we attended Mass every Friday morning.
A healthy percentage of students, especially during warm or hot
weather, wore shorts or pajamas under the gowns. It seems that we
still weren’t making much of a fashion statement!
But the college certainly was making a serious statement about
education. There were no physical education majors. The players on our
team were majoring in French, sociology, and mathematics.
I majored in biology, with a minor in chemistry.
I remember a course I took in organic chemistry. In that class, there
was a lot of nomenclature and a lot of equipment. I don’t know how much
of either I was able to digest. We had labs in the afternoon. Sister would
give us an element – an unknown. We went through a seemingly endless
rigmarole, converting the “unknown” from a liquid to a solid to find out
what the darn thing was. I remember asking myself, “Maybe it’s both a
liquid and a solid – at one time a liquid; at another time, a solid.” But, no,
that would be too easy. So we had to set it all up – the beaker thing, the
bunsen burner, and all the other stuff that I no longer remember. On days
when we had a home game, I’d say to my lab partner, “Look, I’m going to
go over and play the game.” I’d take off my lab coat, leave the lab, cross
the walkway to the gym, change into my uniform, play the game, get out
of my uniform, come back across the walkway, return to the lab, and
finish my project. It all took so darn long, and then I didn’t know if I had
the right unknown anyway. How often I was tempted to take a peek at the
answer book on Sister’s desk!
Shortly after I started school, I discovered that our basketball team
didn’t even have a home court on campus because the field house had
burned down two years earlier while they were having a sophomore
cotillion. So we had been going across the street to practice in the
Motherhouse where young women were training to become Sisters,
Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The young postulants used
the floor for recreation before we got there. They were playing basketball
in their habits, jumping up and down on pogo sticks, with their habits
flying, or on roller skates. Do you know how slippery it is to play ball after
people have been roller skating?
Maureen and I knew some of the postulants, and we went over there
early to referee their games. They had little pin cushions attached to their
habits to differentiate who was on which team. After they were finished,
we practiced.
Our coach was Cathy Rush. We thought she was really cool. She was
very young – only 22 years old when she took this job in 1970 – and she
was very attractive, very stylish. She was a golfer. She would play at the
country club in the morning and then drive over to our practice. We
31
didn’t call her “coach.” We called her “Mrs. Rush,” even though she
wasn’t much older than we were. That was just the way we were raised.
Cathy was married to Ed Rush, an NBA official, and she took this
job because she was looking for something to do when he was on the
road. She signed an initial contract with the college for $450 a year. I
don’t think she ever made more than $1,200 a year. Cathy had gone to
West Chester State and had been a teacher. Her only prior coaching
experience in basketball had been at the junior high school level, but
she was a quick study. She read every coaching book she could get her
hands on.
Cathy developed into a very good coach. Practices were extremely
productive and organized. Cathy had a daily working schedule right down
to the amount of time for a water break. She had no idea what the school’s
record was before she arrived. She said she just wanted to win, do the best
she could. Denise Conway, a fine guard from Archbishop Prendergast,
and I arrived on the scene together with Cathy Rush. Maureen Mooney
was already at school. To me, the amazing thing was that none of us was
recruited. The government hadn’t passed Title IX yet, so smaller schools
like us benefited.
West Chester State, our neighbor, was a dominant power in women’s
basketball in the ’60s because it was able to attract so many women
interested in studying physical education. When Cathy talked about
West Chester, there was a reverence in her voice. They actually had six
or seven teams!
But there were also so many good players coming out of the Catholic
League at that time. West Chester couldn’t take them all, and women like
me, who were interested in a more traditional education, fanned out to
other schools in the area.
Before the start of our freshman year, Denise and I were hanging out
in Valley View, the commuter lounge, and I casually mentioned that I
thought we were going to play four years together, and that we wouldn’t
lose a game. When we looked at the schedule, it didn’t seem that farfetched. We were playing Rosemont, Cabrini, and Gwynedd-Mercy,
small women’s Catholic colleges that always dotted our schedule.
There were still some obstacles for me to overcome. First, I had to get
to school. I still don’t know how I got back and forth to campus every day
during my first couple of years. It was 22 miles from my house to campus.
That was 44 miles a day. Households really only had one car at the time.
I had to be resourceful. I thumbed to school at least three times a
week. When I attended O’Hara, there was a bus that would pick up
students at Our Lady of Fatima, my home parish. I knew that bus stopped
at Holy Cross grade school in Springfield, and I could hop another one
that went out to Immaculata. So I convinced the driver to let me off there.
It was a challenge. But I did it.
So when I played in a game, I’d be thinking to myself, “I thumbed
to school three times this week. You’ve got to be crazy if you think
I’m losing this game.” Besides, getting home was much easier. At one
point, Maureen, who lived at home in the Northeast, would take me
in her car to Glenolden, then get on I-95 and drive through the city. I
told you she was an angel! Our friendship was one that would last
a lifetime.
32
Some of our players also commuted from Havertown and Upper
Darby, and somebody usually had a car. After practice, somebody usually
raided the dining room, which at that time was, theoretically at least, off
limits to commuters. We just wanted something to eat. Most of us never
had any money. Whoever drove dropped me off at the old Strawbridge
and Clothier’s store at the Springfield Shopping Center on Baltimore Pike
and I’d walk the rest of the way – about 25 minutes.
That’s why I was so thin. I used to walk everywhere. When Karl
and I went on a date, he would get furious with me because I would
walk so fast. Now the poor guy has to turn around to make sure I
am there.
“Are you coming?”
“Drag me.”
Then there was the matter of getting dressed for the game. Our
uniforms were blue woolen tunics with box pleats. We wore a blouse
underneath and then bloomers. They were very modest and as itchy
as hell. They were cinched at the waist with a belt. We wore long white
tube socks and sneaks and had corduroy jackets for warm-ups. And
each of us had just one uniform.
We’d play our games that way. There were no lockers, no showers,
so we went home drenched in perspiration. We couldn’t wash the
tunics. We washed the blouses in the sink and hung them out to dry.
And off we went. We wore those uniforms through the 1973 season.
In my senior year, we switched to skirts.
Then, there was the lack of equipment. We played road games at
places like the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University. They
put their names on their basketballs to identify them. Our basketballs
were a mess. Each game we took one ball out of the opponents’ bag
and replaced it with one of our lousy ones. We wound up with a whole
rack of everyone else’s basketballs.
We also had no trainer. We weren’t allowed to get hurt. When we
played at Villanova my senior year, Jake Nevin, the Wildcat’s legendary
trainer, loved us and taped our ankles with pre-wrap. We watched
him carefully. The next time Cathy had the first-aid kit handy, she
beckoned to us, “Come here. I’ll tape your ankles.” When the first
player approached the coach, instead of using pre-wrap, Cathy sprayed
stickum on the player’s ankle and taped over it. The rest of us knew
what to expect and politely declined, “That’s okay, Mrs. Rush. I think
we can manage this.” We didn’t have a tape-cutter, and knew we’d
have to pull off the tape. Ouch! We played at Montclair State one time,
and I asked their trainer, “How do you tape an ankle?” She replied,
with motions, “You put three strips here and three strips there.” We
taped our own ankles from then on.
We believed in ourselves from the beginning. Then I made a costly
mistake. I forgot my sneakers on the day of a game. Maureen drove
me home to get them. As we were returning to campus, we had a car
accident. We finally arrived at the game to find Cathy upset because
we were late. “Denise,” I called, “Be sure to keep winning this game
because I don’t think I can play.” I was right. I had broken my collar
bone. That was the end of my first season at Immaculata. The team
finished 10-2.
The Mighty
Macs sink
the winning
shot at the
buzzer in a
game against
Southern
Connecticut.
I knew we could do better the next year, but I needed to make
money to return to play. I had no academic aid other than a Pell
Grant, even though I worked at several jobs during the summer to
pay my tuition. That summer after my freshman year, I worked in a
factory in Collingdale, welding covers for outdoor swimming pools.
That’s when I made up my mind I would never have a job where I
watched the clock like that again. There were things I wanted to do
with my life, and they didn’t include assembly-line work.
I also wanted to eliminate from my future the buying of shoes
at the Bazaar of All Nations on Baltimore Pike. I remember that
these shoes were tied together by a string. Even after I bought them,
I couldn’t walk in them right away. I tripped until I cut the string. I
decided I was going to make enough money to afford a pair of decent
shoes and to buy a really good suit.
At that time, I also refereed high school and grade school games
all over the area to make extra spending money. Maureen Mooney’s
mother, Helen, was the assigner for the games in the Greater Northeast,
and Peg Pepieves assigned officials in Delaware County. So I also had
games, and Maureen was my partner. The two of us would put on our
officials’ uniforms and go ref games—a couple on Saturday, another
on Sunday. We saw the insides of a lot of gyms.
My freshman year at Immaculata was spent mostly in
accustoming myself to “college life,” getting used to the intricacies
of an over-crowded library, worrying about whether or not I’d make
it to campus on time for first-period classes, cramming for tests and
exams, searching for new ways of earning money for tuition, finding
the easiest and least painful method of avoiding the “swimming
requirement” and remembering the names of the teachers and what
courses they taught. At first there seemed to be no problem with
the Sisters. Weren’t they all just “Sister”? But when asked to “be
more specific,” we found it was no easy task. Although my meager
knowledge of languages told me that names such as Marie, Maria,
Marian, Miriam, and Marita are all forms of Mary, apparently they
are not interchangeable in a Sister’s name.
That first year I was also busy making friends, something I have
never regretted doing.
But, in spite of being first-time collegiate players with a wounded
starter, and an inexperienced coach no more than a few years older
than the team members themselves, and without a gym they could
call their own, these “upstarts” experienced a year that served as a
foretaste of what was to come.
33
CHAPTER 2
My sophomore year was the real break-through for the team. We had gone 17-0 by the end of
the regular season. The members of that ’72 team included two seniors, Sue O’Grady and Pat
Opila; three juniors, Janet Ruch, Maureen Mooney, and Betty Hoffman; three sophomores,
Denise Conway, Janet Young, and me; and three freshmen, Rene Muth, Judy Marra, and
Maureen Stuhlman.
A
ll of us, with the exceptions of Janet Young, who came from
York Catholic, and Maureen Mooney, who came from St.
Hubert’s in the Northeast, were from Delaware County.
Maureen Stuhlman and I had gone to O’Hara; Denise, Janet
Ruch, Sue, Pat, and Betty Ann went to Archbishop Prendergast; and Rene
and Judy went to high school at Villa Maria Academy. These last two we
called “Academyites.”
We had a lot in common. All of us were Catholics. Most of us came
from working-class families. At that time, parents raised their daughters
to work together toward a shared goal. This wasn’t about individual
scholarships or personal fame. It was truly about the team.
We were constantly running sprints in practice. And we even set up
our own Kangaroo Court, with Maureen Mooney acting as its presiding
judge. Players fined one another – one cent for a missed outside shot; two
cents for a missed inside shot; five cents for missing a foul; ten cents for
a breakaway; and one dollar for fouling out. We got a penny credit for a
steal or an offensive rebound. We agreed that this system of “rewards and
punishments” made us much more efficient!
The newly-formed Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women
was holding its first-ever meeting in 1972, and it issued us an invitation
to participate. We had seen the men play in the NIT and the NCAA
tournaments, and we knew all about the championships that UCLA had
won under John Wooden.
But a women’s post-season tournament? We had no idea we were
about to become pioneers! The first time we heard about it, Cathy told
us, “Ladies, I want you to save your cuts for class because we’re going to
need them when we go to the Regionals.” We looked at one another. “Does
she know where she is? You don’t cut class here. The Sisters would be all
over us!” (Meanwhile, the Sisters whispered among themselves, “What’s
a Regional?”)
The Mid-Atlantic Regional was a 16-team single elimination event
that was held in Towson, Md. in 1972. Kids today fly all over during the
summer to participate in travel team tournaments. To us, this was really
cool. We were honestly thrilled. We were going to stay at a Holiday Inn,
and we’d never done that before.
We sat around planning who was going to be in what car, and what we
were going to do when we got there. We had a smoking car and a non-
34
smoking car, back in the days when more people smoked – something we
would never do today.
The team was finally off to Towson, Md. for the Regional Tournament.
It looked as if it might be a short stay at Towson. Our second game in
that Regional was against East Stroudsburg, which was seeded second
in the tournament. One of our Macs was in the locker room and heard
a Stroudsburg player say, “We’re going to kill this Immaculata team!”
Prophetic words? I don’t think so! But at least Stroudsburg and West
Chester knew who we were. The others seemed to think we were from
some unknown place on the planet called Immaculata State College.
Ours was a very close-knit college. There were 76 nuns on campus, and
more than a few of them drove to that game. I knew they were coming,
but I didn’t know why they were late. The game had already started when
the gym door opened and they processed in, working their beads. The
game action came to a halt. “What is that?” one of the Stroudsburg players
asked me. “That’s our secret weapon,” I told her. “And they are a large
part of why you will probably lose today.” I guess they had no idea we had
a higher power on our side that day. We won, 54-48. The Sisters’ prayers
really helped us.
We had a prayer of our own, too, which we said before every game. It
was called O God of Players, and it went like this:
O God of Players, hear our prayer
To play this game and play it fair,
To conquer, win, but if to lose,
Not to revile, nor to abuse.
But with understanding, start again.
Give us strength, O Lord. Amen.
We had faith in God and in one another.
I have only recently learned that this prayer was composed by my high
school basketball coach at Cardinal O’Hara, Mary Ann Nespoli. Mrs.
Nespoli wrote this prayer in the late ’50s, and prayed it with her teams at
Notre Dame High School in Moylan, Pennsylvania. She taught it to us at
O’Hara in the late ’60s, and we have since spread the word.
In the semi-finals of the Regionals, we were up against Towson State,
the third-seeded team, at center court, in their home gym. What do you
suppose the odds were? It was a very emotional game. Earlier that week,
one of the Towson players had been killed in a car accident, so they were
playing for a lot of different reasons. That bothered me more than anything,
because it was something I couldn’t control. I knew their emotions were at
another level, and they were playing before their home fans.
The game came down to the wire. The score was tied, 53-53, at the end.
I went in to shoot the ball, and I was fouled. But the officials couldn’t
decide whether the foul occurred before the end of regulation or after the
buzzer. They had the rule book out and were arguing with the tournament
administrators and the official timer at the scorer’s table. (This, of course,
was before instant replay.) They were going back and forth, and some
people thought the only fair thing to do was to play overtime.
Then Cathy and Ed Rush jumped into the discussion along with Helen
Mooney and her rule book. They were screaming, “If it happens before
the buzzer, you have to shoot the ball!” Twenty minutes later, I walked
to the free-throw line to attempt two free throws. I was beginning to feel
nervous, so I went over to my father who was in the stands. We had a brief
conversation that had nothing to do with basketball. He calmed me down.
I made the first and we won the game. But I wanted to make the second so
no one could say it was a fluke.
Swish!
We would meet West Chester the next day for the Regional title. We had
played their third and fourth teams during the regular season and had
crushed them both. We had never played their first team.
We went out to dinner after our victory over Towson State and it took
forever to get our meal; that was a big mistake. We needed to conserve
our energy. It didn’t take us long to realize that we were not playing the
same West Chester we had defeated twice earlier that season. This team
was meeting us for the first time – and they practically abolished us, 70-38.
Before that game, we had decided to give Cathy flowers. We ordered a big
arrangement and a corsage. I’m sure Maureen Mooney’s parents paid for
the whole thing. Afterwards, we gave Cathy the flowers. The accompanying
card read: “To our No. 1 coach from your No. 2 team.” From that point on,
we never gave flowers on game day because we felt it was bad luck. That
stuck with me throughout my coaching career at St. Joseph’s, Rutgers, and
Illinois. When I was coaching later at Rutgers and Illinois, I would call the
florist and tell him, “If any flowers come for me on the day of a game, do
not deliver them. Send them to the church, hospital, or nursing home but
not to me.”
As winner of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament, West Chester
received an automatic bid to participate in the AIAW National Tournament.
But since our region was so large, Immaculata was also invited because
we were the runners-up, and the only game we lost that year was to West
Chester in the regional championship.
The media gave us quite a beating after the clock appeared to strike
midnight on our Cinderella story. This was during the oil embargo, and
creative reporters across the nation were writing such clever comments as:
“Now here’s this cute little story…But Immaculata has just run out of gas.”
And there was a healthy bit of skepticism on campus after that crushing
defeat in the Regionals. There were some students who questioned
whether or not we could realistically expect to beat the same team that had
slaughtered us by 32 points in the Regionals. They felt it was a waste of
precious time and good money to cover the expenses for a trip of 800 miles
to Normal, Illinois.
All credit belongs to our then-president, Sister Mary of Lourdes, and her
many supportive “buddies,” who were the ones who pushed the idea. Sister
herself was a former basketball star at John W. Hallahan Catholic High
School for Girls, one of the tradition-rich teams in the Philadelphia Catholic
League. With the writing on the wall, there was certainly no reason for us
to make the trip. What would the school gain by it? But the Sisters were
insistent. “We’re sending them,” they said. The more optimistic prayed,
“Dear God, let them win at least one game to maintain their self-esteem.”
And the more desperate begged, “Just let them go, Lord, and keep them safe.”
If it had been a man in charge, he would have been more pragmatic,
figuring these were just a bunch of dumb girls. “We’re not sending them,”
he would mutter. “This is just a waste of time. It was a nice little run.
Enough’s enough!” But the Sisters did send us, with the advice, “Just go
out there and do your best for dear old Immaculata.”
Coach Cathy Rush
runs through plays
with the Mighty Macs
during practice.
35
In recognition of the
first national tournament
sponsored by the Association for Intercollegiate
Athletics for Women, the
sixteen teams competing
formed a number one on
the gym floor of Illinois
State in Normal, IL.
Money was definitely an issue. There was no travel budget. We had a
week to raise money for the trip, and we actually sold toothbrushes. Then,
we held a pep rally in the Rotunda, and all the clubs on campus contributed
money from their budgets so we could make the trip to Normal.
As it turned out, we had $2,500 to work with. The school could afford to
send Cathy and only eight players to Illinois. And Cathy had to tell three
girls they couldn’t go. That was tough. The school had reserved a ticket
for Cathy who had just become pregnant. The rest of us flew standby to
O’Hare Airport in Chicago. Then we drove two hours to Normal, Illinois.
I still don’t know how Cathy rented those cars. She was only 24 years old.
We were in the car on the way to Normal reading a local newspaper, when
36
someone came upon a short article that listed the schools participating in
the national tournament. We didn’t know any of them other than West
Chester. Once we arrived, we stayed three or four in a room at a Holiday
Inn near the campus of Illinois State. We each had seven dollars a day for
meal money. We didn’t know anything about per diem allowance in those
days. Our parents had given us spending money.
The 1972 Nationals were a three-day event, with one game on Friday,
two games on Saturday, and the championship game on Sunday morning
so teams could have another night’s lodging.
The first night we attended a banquet on campus and the governor of
Illinois spoke. After dinner, we were walking to the motel. West Chester
saw us coming. They were the big jocks, and they called to us, “Hey,
Immaculata! Did you bring your gas cans in case you run out of gas? Hah!
Hah! Hah!” I was so ticked.
Before the first game of the National Tournament, all 16 teams involved
marched onto the court. We formed a giant No. 1 at center court to indicate
that this was the first National Tournament sponsored by the recently
established Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. It didn’t
take us long to notice that the other teams were all wearing cool sweat
suits. This was when sweat suits had just started to become fashionable.
We showed up in our standard-issue wool tunics and corduroy jackets.
We were by far the smallest school in the bracket and the only Catholic
college. The other schools brought with them assistant coaches, trainers,
managers, and sports information directors. For Immaculata, it was just Cathy
and the eight of us. But it was enough. (To make the IC team seem larger, and
therefore, more threatening than it actually was, we draped our jackets on the
five empty seats, supposedly reserved for the remainder of the team!)
We made a great story. But after we won our first two games, it appeared
that our story, no matter how interesting, might be ending sooner than
planned. In the third game, we played Mississippi State College for Women,
the top seed in the tournament, and we were down 14 points at halftime.
Cathy came into the locker room and sounded ready to concede. “Look,”
she said, “we’ve had a great run. You girls have played like real champions.
No one can fault you.”
But we weren’t ready to go home. “Hey,” Maureen Stuhlman argued, “we
need only seven baskets.” Then Maureen Mooney got hot. She made 22 points,
and we wound up winning, 46-43. That set up a match for the next day against
West Chester for the national championship.
We were amused at the realization that, although at the very outset of the
tournament, the West Chester pep band had been cheering for Immaculata,
their tune quickly changed now that they were going to meet us on the court.
We had no band and only five Immaculata students who had driven 12 hours to
cheer us on. They had to find a way to make themselves heard at the upcoming
game. Their creative solution was to track down a big wash tub on a nearby
farm. They removed the dowels from the hangers in the hotel clothes closet to
use as drum sticks. Our cheering section was now ready.
West Chester was a dominant force in women’s athletics in the country at that
time. Cathy had gone to school and played basketball there, and she admired their
excellent program. “You know, Theresa,” she had said to me on one occasion, “if
you had gone to West Chester, you probably wouldn’t have made the first team. In
fact, you might not even have made the second team.” “You know, Mrs. Rush,” I
countered, “that’s great, but I’m not at West Chester. I’m at Immaculata. There’s
only one team here, and I’m on it.” Years later, I realized that this was Cathy’s way of
making sure I stayed motivated and focused.
But that “one team” from Immaculata seemed to be off to a surprisingly
good start at this National Tournament. After a three-point win over Indiana
University in the first round, Cathy phoned Ed with the news. “Can you believe
it? We’re in the Final Eight,” she told him. “That’s great,” he said. “Now, don’t
be disappointed if you lose.” The same conversation occurred after our next
two victories.
When she phoned him with the news that we had made it to the championship
game, he asked, rather nervously, who our opponent would be. When Cathy
answered, “West Chester,” Ed’s ifs of his previous warnings turned to when:
“Now don’t be disappointed when you lose.”
But we honestly never thought we were going to lose, and we honestly never
thought we were going to win. We just knew we were going to play as hard as
we possibly could.
And we did play hard that day. Cathy made one line-up change, putting
Rene Muth, a good shooter and a solid offensive rebounder, in the starting
line-up as forward in place of Janet Ruch, who was only 5’1”, to give us more
size up front. Cathy moved Denise from shooting guard to point guard. It was
the first time Denise had never played that position, and I remember telling
her that Maureen Mooney and I would help her out if she got into trouble with
the Golden Rams’ press. We knew we couldn’t run with West Chester, but we
jumped off to a 12-2 lead, and controlled the tempo of the entire game.
Throughout the game, the team gave an almost-perfect performance. When
the final buzzer signaled the end of playing time, proclaiming Immaculata the
1972 National Champions (52-48), the news shocked West Chester, the nation,
and us. We weren’t even sure just what the victors were supposed to do, so we
didn’t storm the court or cut down the nets. We just stood there, looking rather
puzzled at one another. At that moment, we had no idea of exactly what had
happened. We were too naïve to turn around to see the amazed expressions
of the tournament organizers. We weren’t sure whether or not it was proper to
cheer for ourselves! I do remember that it was a beautiful spring day, and we
didn’t need coats when we went outside to look for a pay phone, so we could
inform our families of the astounding news.
Cathy had been calling the school every day to give them updates on our
progress. The day we played the title game, there was a large conference at the
college. Sister Mary of Lourdes was giving a presentation in a 1,100-seat theatre
next to the gym. There was a Sister stationed at the rear of the room whose
“special assignment” was to take the call expected from Cathy.
Sister Mary of Lourdes was at the podium, doing her thing, when the
phone rang. The smile on the face of the Sister who answered the telephone
was enough to tell all who had turned to look at her that the message was
good news. She gave Sister Mary of Lourdes a thumbs-up. She stopped the
presentation, and with a wide grin, announced to the assembly, “Ladies
and gentlemen, I am proud to inform you that Immaculata College has just
won the AIAW National Basketball Championship.” The entire place went
wild. Sister Marian William later told me that they never did finish the
conference. Instead, they celebrated the amazing and unexpected victory
of what was later to be known as the “powerhouse of women’s basketball.”
The news spread fast locally. We had been covered on a regular basis
by the West Chester Daily Local. Our nickname was “The Macs.” After
the championship game, George Heaslip, a columnist for that paper,
immediately began referring to us as “The Mighty Macs,” and that name
has clung to us ever since.
I have to laugh when I see Connecticut dominating the women’s game and
rolling up 89 consecutive victories. Back then, many of the big-time coaches
in the sport came from the Midwest and the South. They didn’t believe there
were any good coaches, or players, from the East. When we won that game at
Normal, Illinois, it came as a shock to their systems. It was obvious that they
were furious. They apparently figured that their teams would dominate this
tournament. Now here comes this little Catholic school, with the pretty young
blonde, think-out-of-the-box coach. Cathy was just not of their caliber. We had
messed up their whole system.
Following the National Championship awards ceremony in Illinois, we
immediately packed up and drove two hours to O’Hare for what we thought
37
was our flight home. When we reached the airport, we found out that our
tickets had been canceled because the school had scheduled us to return
on Saturday, and we had missed our original flight. Cathy and Sister Mary
of Lourdes were on the telephone between Chicago and Immaculata,
trying to figure out how to get the team back to Chester County. But all
was not lost. We were rescued by Cas Holloway, a successful real estate
developer in Malvern. Not only was he a very wealthy man, but he was also
a philanthropist, a good friend of our president, and an ardent Catholic
who believed strongly in the power of prayer. He was certainly the answer
to our prayers that day. His response to Sister’s dilemma was, “Send them
home first class!”
So we flew back to Philadelphia first class. When the flight landed, and
we pulled up to the gate, the pilot announced, “Will the Immaculata team
please stay on the plane.”
The West Chester team was on the same flight, sitting in the back.
They had to walk down the aisle past us and into a crowd of 500 of our
supporters, who were eagerly waiting to greet us. We finally disembarked
into a packed terminal, amid the hugs of rows and rows of fans. Students,
faculty, family, friends – even strangers – had all come to welcome home
the “conquering heroes” (heroines?) of the “Cinderella Team.” I doubt if
there was a dry eye in the airport.
Then we went home. A small plaque in my office reminds me daily of
this amazing journey. That’s about it.
The day we returned to school, the Public Relations Office brought us
out for a photo shoot. Our uniforms smelled awful, but the PR person
insisted that we pose in them. We didn’t have our sneakers with us, so
they took the picture with the long tunics and our dress shoes. Another
fashion first for Immaculata.
We did bring home shirts from Illinois State. After we returned to
campus, we played an exhibition game against the faculty, and we wore
the Illinois State shirts. The celebration seemed to have no end.
My only disappointment that season was the fact that we didn’t receive
championship rings. When I was at O’Hara, I had always wanted one.
Although we were champions of the Catholic League in my freshman,
sophomore, and junior years of high school, we just couldn’t make it that
final year – and, of course, no ring!
After we defeated West Chester for that National Championship at
Normal, Ill., I thought that might all change. “We’re going to get rings,”
I assured the team. “We won the championship. I just know they’re going
to give us rings!” My teammates just laughed. “Theresa, be realistic,” they
said, “We’re not getting rings.”
But I was insistent. I suppose I should have known better. At the Awards
Banquet at the Covered Wagon Inn, instead of rings, Mother Claudia,
Mother General of the IHMs, and Sister Mary of Lourdes presented us
with rosary beads – plain brown wooden rosary beads.
The next day I was called to Sister Mary of Lourdes’ office. “Theresa,”
she said, “I understand you’re upset.” “No,” I told her, “everything is good.
I’m fine with this.” “But I was told that you’re a little upset,” she repeated.
Then she added, “Theresa, you know those rosaries will serve you better
than any ring.” (Did I mention that I still have—and still use—and still
love—that pair of plain brown wooden rosaries?)
I still don’t know if we understood the significance of that first National
Women’s Championship. No, we hadn’t stormed the court, and nobody
had cut down the net. Four of our starters from that first title game –
Maureen Mooney, Maureen Stuhlman, Denise Conway, and I – knew how
big it was to play for the Philadelphia Catholic title before a sellout crowd
at the Palestra. At that point, winning the Catholic League meant more
to a lot of us than winning the AIAW tournament. That was our frame of
reference. We thought it was the end of a wonderful adventure. How little
we knew!
About this same time, we received word that Immaculata’s president was
to be changed at the end of the school year. After 18 years as a deeply loved
and popular administrator, Sister was being sent to another assignment.
The news came as a shock to the tiny school’s community. “Lourdsey,” as
she was affectionately called, was especially close to the basketball team,
of which she was a strong supporter. During her tenure, she oversaw the
construction of seven new buildings, including Alumnae Hall, and the
enrollment doubled. She was replaced by Sister Marie Antoine, a lovely
woman whom I was privileged to call my friend, but Sister was not up on
her sports terms.
Sister Mary of Lourdes, then-president of Immaculata,
welcomes Cathy Rush and the team at the Philadelphia
Airport after their first championship title.
38
CHAPTER 3
Winning that first national championship was one thing. Defending it was another.
It didn’t take long for people to suggest that our victory was a fluke. That bothered
me no end. That’s why, in our second year, we made a point of proving we were for real.
B
asketball was becoming a 12-month-a-year sport for all
of us. At that point, Howard Garfinkel was running a
highly successful recruiting camp called “Five Star” in
Honesdale, Pa. It attracted elite boys’ prospects from all
over the East Coast. But there had never been any place for the best girls’
high schools to showcase their skills. So Ed and Cathy came up with the
idea of operating summer camps in the Poconos, and they hired most of
us as counselors. College players could teach during the day and would
stage pick-up games at night. I’m sure it gave the team a huge start going
into the season, but I never participated because I was working at a rival
camp for Howie Landa, who was paying me $50 a week and helping me
with my game. He was a master offensive tactician, and he shared with
me his 26 offensive moves. And I taught those same 26 offensive moves
to my players and campers over the next three decades.
It was in my junior year, 1972-73, that we stopped being surprised
with each victory and that basketball at Immaculata took on a more
serious approach. Cathy had an absolute fit that we were playing football
instead of doing stations and working on our games. We knew that once
we took the floor, we were going to give her everything we had. We were
going to play full out. But I don’t know if Cathy understood this, and I
don’t know if she trusted us to do it.
Cathy also felt she had to upgrade our talents in order for us to compete
at the highest level. To that end, she recruited Marianne Crawford, a fiery
point guard from Archbishop Prendergast in the Catholic League who was
considered the best high school basketball prospect in the area. Marianne
originally wanted to go to West Chester to major in physical education. If she
had done this and had teamed up with Carol Larkin in the backcourt there,
the history of women’s basketball might have been dramatically altered. But
Cathy convinced her to commute to Immaculata.
Marianne instantly made us a much better team. Her game had a
joy about it that reflected her free spirit. She was a great ball handler, a
tenacious defender, and a catalyst for a lethal 1-3-1 defense which Cathy
had initiated that fall. We pressed all the time that season, and Marianne
made us go. We were fun to watch, since the women’s game was played
with a 30-second clock, which, at times, made our games more exciting
than the men’s games because they eliminated stalling at the end.
The home games at Alumnae Hall were packed. To make sure there
was enough seating, the girls on the team had to do some maintenance
work. Prior to every game, we would set up 500-600 folding chairs
around the court to accommodate the ever-growing crowd of spectators.
Rene Muth’s father, Lou, who owned a hardware store in Upper
Darby, made sure there was plenty of noise. At first, we didn’t have an
organized pep band, so one night he showed up with six aluminum
buckets. His family carted them in on a dolly before each game, then
handed them out. Before long, our parents, the Sisters, and our fans were
banging on these buckets. The opposing teams and their fans needed
earplugs. Many of our weekend games were played in the afternoons.
I’ve been lucky. In both high school and college, I’ve been on teams that
played before a full house. My teammates’ parents were most supportive.
They sat together at home games and went out to eat together afterwards.
We had no cheerleaders, so one of the Sisters coaxed a student to
“fill in.” She began with great enthusiasm: “Give me an I….Give me an
M….Give me an A…” There was a gasp from the crowd.
Fellow students tried to rescue the embarrassed student by helping
her change the spelling, but it was too late. The college president had
heard enough!
We had an eight-girl pep band my junior and senior years, and they
played “When the Macs Come Marching In” as we came out for our pregame warm-ups. I think it was the only song they knew, and I’m sure it
made the Immaculata Hit Parade at every game.
In October of 1972, just before practice started, Cathy had given
birth to her first son, Eddie. She brought him to practice, set him up in
a portable crib, and had the team managers handle the baby-sitting. We
took him out of his playpen, put him in the ball rack and ran all over
the place. It probably wasn’t the safest thing to do, but he loved it and
we had a good time with him, too. That was really neat for us, for we
had an opportunity to witness firsthand a woman who had a family but
wasn’t going to let that full-time job affect her career. Occasionally, he
even made an appearance on the bench with Cathy holding him in her
arms as she fed him his bottle.
Our big game during the regular 1972-73 season came as no surprise.
It was against West Chester. It was almost a year since they had lost to
us in the National Championship game, and they were still in a state of
disbelief. We could tell they were itching for a re-match.
They still had the same coach, Kitty Caldwell, and a lot of good
players from that team—Jane Fontaine, Carol Larkin, Linda Eisenhauer,
Kathy Valutus, and Cassandre Taylor—and were still getting all the kids
who were interested in studying phys. ed. They boasted that same large
39
talent pool, fielding four or five teams, all of whom could run and were
amazingly athletic.
The game was played at Henderson Field House at 3 p.m. on a Monday
in February. The gym seated 3,500, but there must have been 4,500 fans
there, and they were hanging from the upstairs railings. We jumped out
on them early and led by 10, 15 points most of the game. It was a physical
game, and I remember they brought Linda Ziemke, a rugged six-footer,
to slow me down. I finished with 25 points and 21 rebounds, and Rene
added 14 more. Most importantly, we went to the line 35 times and made
28 free throws. That really made the difference.
Although West Chester made a late rally, we walked out of there with
a 63-57 victory.
That was the day I got engaged to Karl. I remember telling my
teammates about it in a huddle. He and I had become more serious in
college when he was at Widener. We went to Longwood Gardens and
to the Palestra to watch Big Five college basketball games. We talked
constantly about basketball. But there was more – much more. He had a
great sense of humor. I knew that if I married him, I would always be in
a good mood. But I would never give him the satisfaction of laughing at
his jokes. I still don’t. When we became engaged, Karl didn’t have money
for a ring. I said to him, “Look, don’t buy me just any little ring. I want to
tell you right now, if you don’t have money for it, it’s okay. But don’t buy
anything little.”
Late in the regular season, we had played a home game against Ursinus.
A few years ago, Debbie Ryan, the former head coach of Virginia who had
played for Ursinus then, was speaking at a symposium called “Lessons
from the Legends” before 1,200 coaches at the WBCA Conference. In her
remarks, she admitted that she and some of her college teammates had
sneaked up to the second floor of Immaculata’s Rotunda, hanging a bed
sheet from the banister that read: “We’re going to nail Immaculata to the
cross.” You can imagine how that played with us! We won the game—
then ripped that darn thing to shreds. I’m still wondering how they got
their hands on that sheet. And I’m still wondering how they managed to
hang it from the second-floor Rotunda!
Meanwhile, there was a bit of concern (just a bit) rearing its ugly head
in some corners of our campus. A couple of girls—yes, two, to be exact—
approached Sister Marie Antoine, the successor of Sister Mary of Lourdes, to
discuss what they felt was a “very serious” matter. “Rumor had it” that our
own Immaculata was winning the reputation of becoming a “jock school.”
Sister hurriedly told them, “Oh, honey dears, don’t worry. That’s never
going to happen.” Sister Antoine immediately tracked down Sister Marian
William. “What do the girls mean by a ‘jock school’?” she asked in a worried
voice. I don’t know what Sister Marian told her, but I’ll bet it was something
like, “Oh, honey, don’t worry. That’s never going to happen.”
In the spring of 1973, the team was looking almost like professionals.
We won the Mid Atlantic Regionals at Lock Haven, and we once again
won the Nationals, this time defeating Queens on their home court.
There was no question that teams were gunning for us. We were no
longer a cute little story. We knew that in a single-elimination, 16-team
tournament, anything could happen. And it almost did.
We played Southern Connecticut in the semi-finals. It was our second
game of the day, and we found ourselves down 12 points, with just 3:12
40
to play. Thank goodness for the press. It ate away at their lead, and pretty
soon we were up by one point with 40 seconds to play. Cathy called
timeout and told us not to foul anybody.
So what happened? Southern dribbled the ball up the floor, and one
of our players fouled; we were lucky. The Southern player made only one
of the two free throws. We had the ball for the last possession, with 20
seconds left. We called timeout, but officials at the scorers’ table forgot to
turn off the 30-second shot clock. We started a play with just 10 seconds
on the clock.
But Marianne got confused. She was looking at the shot clock instead
of at the scoreboard clock. Everything was breaking down. With six
seconds left, everyone was shouting for her to shoot. She put up a jumper
and missed. But I grabbed the rebound and tapped in the shot at the
buzzer to give us a 47-45 win.
My 21st birthday was on the next day, the day of the finals. The night
before, we took over a local restaurant and about 60 people sang “Happy
Birthday” to me. “I have never lost a game on my birthday,” I said, “and I
don’t intend to start now.”
The drama surrounding that Southern game made the final against
a good Queens College team—which was filled with tough, street-smart
kids from New York—seem easy by comparison. We won, 59-52, before
a crowd of 4,000. Earlier, we had promised Cathy an undefeated season.
And we kept our pledge.
When the game ended, everyone was jumping around. But I was
sitting on the stands by myself, thinking, “I just played as hard and as
well as I could. I averaged 25 points and 18 rebounds in these four games.
And yet to win this thing a third time, I will have to play even harder. I
don’t think I can physically play any better than I did this week.” The
celebration wasn’t even ten minutes old.
From a personal standpoint, what I wanted more than anything was
to go out as a champion. When I played at O’Hara, we won the first three
years, but I didn’t go out a champion. We lost to West Catholic in my
senior year. When I took off my Immaculata uniform, I wanted it to
mean something.
At our year-end banquet, as we approached the dais for recognition
and applause at the Covered Wagon Inn, I thought to myself, “Okay, this
is it. This year, they’ll give us rings. No one has ever won two consecutive
championships. This year we’re bound to get rings.” Well, they
congratulated us, shook our hands, but no rings. Their reason? “Why
would we give you rosaries again? We gave them to you last year.”
That summer, I played internationally for the United States in the
World Championships in Russia. I thought I was tall. But when I got over
there and saw Russia’s 6’10” center, Illyana Semonova, who was ten and a
half inches taller than I, this almost six-footer felt like a smurf in the land
of giants. She wore No. 6, and I barely reached the 6 on her jersey.
Russia, as you might expect, won the gold medal. We won the silver.
When they handed out the medals, they already had our names engraved
on them. I guess they knew who was going to win the tournament.
I received something better than a medal when I arrived back home.
Karl had bought the engagement ring. And it looked good on my left
hand. Real good.
CHAPTER 4
In my senior year, our team was no longer a secret. People knew about us. Not only
were they waiting for us, they were gunning for us. They definitely wanted a piece of us.
T
hey were getting tired of us. At that time, we were the
two-time defending champions. We were the subject of
national magazine articles. Our games were broadcast on
radio, and we were on local TV. That was a big deal for us. A camera crew
would come out to campus to do a 30-second clip, and we’d all gather
around the TV after practice to see if we were on.
We were being referred to as the “UCLA of the East.” During the
’74 regular season, over 4,000 fans showed up to watch us defeat West
Chester at Cardinal O’Hara High School, at the height of the gas crisis.
Some of our home games were moved to the Villanova Field House to
accommodate the growing number of people who wanted to see us play.
Catholic grade schools would charter buses to transport students who
wanted to watch our games. IHM Sisters from South Jersey and Central
Pennsylvania came to swell the ranks of our “blue cheerleaders.”
We were 54-1 and working on a 35-game winning streak when we
traveled to Queens College on Ash Wednesday, February 27, 1974 for
a rematch of the 1973 championship game. The place was packed, and
hundreds of our fans had made the trip with us, proudly wearing our
ashes. The final score was a tragic one, 57-56. And this unexpected loss
served as a gentle Lenten reminder that life’s certainties are, at best,
uncertain. Nobody saw it coming. But I should have. Just before the
game, Marianne said to me, “Theresa, I have bad news. I can see my little
sneakers sitting in the car, patiently waiting for me to pick them up. I
didn’t pick them up.” We needed one of the other kids to give her a pair
of shoes. This was one story where the glass slipper didn’t fit.
We rode back to campus in almost complete silence. Our fans would
be crushed. But when we arrived, Sister Marie Roseanne Bonfini, dean
of academic affairs at that time and who would later go on to become
president of the school, had arranged for a reception in the Rotunda.
She felt it was important that the girls on the team knew that everybody
cared for us and it was okay that we had lost.
We walked in, and everyone was cheering. Denise convinced me to
say a few words. I was reluctant. “Denise,” I said to my co-captain, “I
thought the deal was that you were supposed to take care of things off the
floor, and I was supposed to take care of things on the floor.” “Well,” she
said, “you didn’t take care of things on the floor today.” Thanks, Denise.
So I took the microphone and thanked everyone for coming out to
support us. Then I said, “I promise you that in three weeks, we will bring
home to you another national championship.” Then I put down the
microphone and went home. Denise groaned, saying, “Why do we ever
let her talk?” But we did live up to our promise.
But that ’74 season was a difficult one for me personally. It took
us a while to establish the chemistry. Maureen Mooney and Maureen
Stuhlman were gone, and we had a lot of high-profile faces. Cathy
had gone out of the area to recruit Mary Scharff from Paul VI High
in South Jersey and Tina Krah from Allentown Central Catholic, and
brought in three other freshmen – Marie Liguori, Barb Deuble, and
Patricia Mulhern. Both Tina and Mary became starters along with Rene,
Marianne, and me. Denise became our sixth man and would come in as
a big-time shooter when teams went zone.
We always had to find a way to get to practice on the weekends
because campus was an hour away. In today’s world, kids go to practice
an hour before because they do rehab, get treatment. Then they have
shoot around.
We didn’t have all that. We rotated driving. Whoever had a car
made the loop, picked us up at our houses, and we made the trip to
school together.
We were college students. Time management was not something we
were good at. We cut it as close as possible.
Inevitably, we were late a couple of times, and this really frosted
Cathy because she was a stickler for promptness.
One morning, while we were commuting on the back roads of Route
252, we came across the Radnor Hunt Club, doing its thing. First we saw
the fox. Then we saw the horses carrying the Hunt members wearing
their black hats and red jackets – which was all very picturesque and
Chester County.
Unfortunately for us, it was all very time-consuming.
We knew we weren’t going anywhere any time soon. And we knew we
were in big trouble – probably even more than the fox.
When we finally got to campus, we sent Rene in to test the waters. We
figured Cathy liked her. No good. Cathy was just livid. When Rene tried
to pick up Eddie in his playpen, Cathy screamed at her, “Put him down.”
She did.
The rest of us trooped in and she told us to run three miles.
We did.
We had tried to tell her we were caught up in a fox hunt. But she
no more believed that than she believed in the man in the moon.
Afterwards, we were mad that she didn’t believe us. And we were a couple
41
L-R: Bottom row,
Therse McAdams
(manager), Janet
Young, Patricia
Mulhern, Barbara
Deuble, Denise
Conway, Judy Marra,
Marianne Crawford.
Middle row: Marie
Liguori, Theresa
Shank, Cathy Rush,
Rene Muth, Tina
Krah, Mary Scharff.
Top row, Sister Rita
Regina, Sister Kathleen
Mary, Sister Marian
Bernard, Sister Maria
Christi, Sister M.
Theresia, and Sister
Agnes Marita.
of laps short of three miles. That night, we got together and ran the rest.
We got our three miles in.
It taught us a lesson. She was the coach and she made the rules.
All of our games were on WCOJ, a small radio station in Coatesville
with a limited range. Art Douglas did the play-by-play, but his voice
reached only so far. I don’t think the signal reached Delaware County,
where most of us lived.
I still remember Judy Marra telling me her folks would drive out to
Chester County just so they could pick up the signal and listen to our
games when we were on the road.
Camilla Hall was the infirmary and retirement home for IHM Sisters
on our campus. All the Sisters who were there were definitely following
us, too, listening to our games on the radio. In January of that year, Sister
Marie Roseanne called me into her office and said to me, “Theresa, I’d
like you to go down to Camilla Hall and thank the Sisters for praying for
the team.”
I was hesitant but agreed to do it. Originally, I was just going to
go in, get on the switchboard and say, “This is Theresa Shank, and we
appreciate all your prayers. Thank you.”
When I arrived, Sister Rose Immaculate met me at the front door and
took me through the entire house. I met all the Sisters who had served
and had given their entire lives to the church. Now they were so involved
in what we were doing. They were running back and forth to the chapel,
praying for us whenever they felt we were in trouble during our games.
It was really touching and at the same time, very humbling.
The National Tournament in 1974 was held at Kansas State in
Manhattan, Kansas. The town was known as the “Little Apple.” The
entire place was painted in the school colors, purple and white. The field
house was purple. The mail boxes were purple. The men wore purple
ties. That was the first year the AIAW had allowed schools that gave
athletic scholarships to participate in the tournament.
Wayland Baptist College in Texas was supposed to be our most
42
dangerous competitor. We didn’t know much about them, but
the “Flying Queens” had a legendary heritage. They once won 132
consecutive games in the 1950s, long before Connecticut thought about
breaking UCLA’s record of 88 straight wins in the NCAA competition.
They were a barnstorming team that recruited heavily, signing some of
the best players from AAU ball. The team flew to road games in private
Beechcraft airplanes. As it turned out, we never got a chance to play
them. They were upset in the first round by Indiana.
Our first game was against Kansas State. We played absolutely awful.
I fouled out. So did two other starters. But we survived, which had to be a
relief for those bus loads of our fans who had made the 23-hour trip into
the heart of the Midwest to watch us play.
After that game, we beat Indiana University, then William Penn
College from Iowa. Then we defeated Mississippi University for
Women, 68-53, for the national title. I scored 18 points in my final
college game. So did Tina Krah. We won the same day David Thompson and North Carolina State upset Bill Walton and UCLA in the
NCAA men’s semi-finals at Greensboro, ending their string of eight
straight national championships.
The year before I had watched Walton score 44 points on TV at
Cathy’s house and knew he was going on to make millions in the NBA.
But this was it for me.
When our game finally ended, I felt relieved. More than 1,000
fans welcomed us home at the Philadelphia Airport. We disrupted the
United Airlines Terminal when our flight landed at gate D9 at 4:15 in the
afternoon. When we got off the plane, we all were wearing the cowboy
hats we had purchased on the trip. To us, Kansas City was the West.
There were cowboys and tumbleweeds. I know somebody wanted to
bring home a tumbleweed, but I didn’t think that would work.
I had taken a full load of academic credits (15) every semester. As the
end of the school year grew near, I kept getting messages from professors,
telling me to get my work in. “Theresa Shank, please report to so-and-
so.” I really had to hustle to get it all completed because it would have
been quite embarrassing if, after all the national publicity, I wouldn’t
graduate. I passed.
For me, it was time to graduate and get on with the rest of my life.
Our commencement was held outdoors on campus that May. It was a
gorgeous day. Because Rose Kennedy, who had previously agreed to be
the speaker, had become ill, Larry Kane, the news anchor for the ABC
affiliate, gave the commencement address. When I walked to the stage to
receive my diploma, my father, who had been very reserved at the games,
left his seat to greet me. He gave me a warm hug. It was a moment I’ll
never forget. After the ceremony, we marched to the Rotunda and tossed
our mortar boards in the air.
I was going to be married in June. I knew my life was about to
change drastically.
That year the team that had won the AIAW championship was
being rewarded with a trip to Australia in the summer to play a series
of exhibition games. I had already told Cathy I couldn’t make it. After
the tournament, she told me that if I didn’t go, the trip was off. She said,
“They’re not going to let the rest of the kids go.” So I got married, went
on our honeymoon, returned home, and went to practice at camp. Karl
dropped me off at the Poconos for five days. We flew out after that.
Cathy was eight months pregnant with her second son, Michael, and
she couldn’t make the trip. She sent her assistant, Pat Walsh, and Billie
Moore, the coach at Cal State, Fullerton, in her place.
We were gone a month. It took 24 hours to get over there. We went to
New Zealand first, then to Australia. We were billeted in private homes.
Our hosts tried to entertain us. We went to a petting zoo, where Marianne
went into the paddock to hold the paw of a kangaroo. She was lucky that
the animal didn’t kill her, but she was certainly frightened by its jumping
and kicking. It was a long trip, but we had a lot of fun. When we finally
played the last game in Australia, I thought I would never touch a ball
again. There were no pro leagues for women. We put our uniforms away,
but we knew we would never put away our memories.
For me, it was my relationship with the Sisters at Immaculata and
at Camilla that made that particular stage in my life so special. When
I think back to that time, I realize there was an incredible spirit on that
campus, and the Sisters were as much a part of our winning as we were.
I had a great time at Immaculata. Sister Kathleen Mary Burns once
told me, “Theresa, this is your Camelot.” And it was. And it still is. And
it always will be.
When, in 1997, we held a 25th anniversary celebration for our first
championship game, Sister Marian William Hoben, IHM, president
emerita of Immaculata, wrote a lovely tribute for us which she called
Remember When:
Remember when the college’s name appeared on a game program
as “Immaculata State College” ? Remember the Ash Wednesday night
when we returned from a defeat at Queens (breaking a 35-game winning
streak) to be greeted by the entire student body in the Rotunda?
And remember Theresa, with her hand raised above her
head, shouting, “I promise you another national championship
this year!” Remember how the other teams giggled because
our players wore skirts and hair ribbons? Remember how each
1974
Championship
Banner housed
in Alumnae
Hall Gym
girl washed her one and only uniform in the bathroom sink?
Remember when someone’s skirt was lost in the laundromat?
Remember the two seniors who complained to Sister Marie
Antoine that Immaculata was becoming a “ jock college”?
Remember those practices in the basement of Villa, and then
later in the novitiate?
Remember that glorious game in Madison Square Garden,
where we were billed first in a double-header because the second
game (the men’s game) was expected to be the real drawing card?
And, remember how, after that Immaculata-Queens game was
over (we won, of course) thousands of spectators left the Garden
because they had really come to see the Macs play?
Remember the 28-hour ride to Manhattan, Kansas? Remember
the 20-minute wait while the officials studied the rule book to see
if Theresa would be allowed to shoot a foul shot after the whistle
had blown at the end of the game? Remember Kung Fu? Remember
Mary’s three-pointers before they became fashionable? Remember
the man who thought our girls were novices because there were so
many Sisters at the games? Remember when Cathy, on the sidelines
with her clipboard, tried to illustrate a play, only to have one of
our players ask, “Mrs. Rush, are we the x’s or the o’s?” Remember?
Remember? Remember? These were truly the “glory days.”
And they were!
43
EPILOGUE
The Mighty Macs have faded into history.
But have they?
Immaculata is a Division III team now, but the coach,
Patty Canterino, who played here in 1992, is very good
at reminding her players of their heritage. In 2010, we
played Cabrini College at Madison Square Garden in a
game that was reminiscent of our glorious past.
In 1975, Immaculata played Queens College before
more than 13,000 fans, the largest crowd ever to watch
a women’s game. Patty said people ask her all the time
about the Mighty Macs. It’s a story they never get tired of
hearing. And a story they shouldn’t ever forget.
When the University of Connecticut won the 2000
NCAA women’s championship at what is now the Wells
Fargo Center in Philadelphia, the players from the
basketball team at our University handed out T-shirts
to the fans and participating teams with “Immaculata
College” on the front and “It all began here” on the back.
And no one argued with the truth of that statement.
When I graduated from high school, I thought I was
finished with basketball. Wrong.
When I graduated from college, I thought I was not
interested in a coaching career. Wrong.
I had actually done a little coaching while I was
playing at Immaculata. I coached the seventh and eighth
grade CYO teams at Our Lady of Fatima for three years.
My first game, we lost 50-0 to Holy Spirit. The second
game we lost to St. Andrew, 52-2. I knew I needed better
players. So I went to the sixth grade and got Kathy
McManus and Karen Ward and brought them up to our
team. Three years later, we won the CYO title. I had no
idea at the time how much that experience would help
me in the future.
For me, coaching was just a way of giving back to
the community. It was being able to take people beyond,
where they could not get by themselves.
I was teaching sixth grade at Our Lady of Fatima
when St. Joseph’s University called in 1975 and offered
me the head coaching position there. I went from
there to Rutgers and then to Illinois. In sum, I coached
women’s college basketball for more than 30 years.
When I retired from Illinois, I thought I was through
working in an academic setting. Wrong.
After we came back to Pennsylvania, we settled in
a new home, not far from Immaculata. I went back
to campus, just to visit, and Sister Patricia Fadden,
the president, offered me a job as assistant to the vice
44
president for Student Affairs. I accepted. It seems
I realized I had missed my alma mater. You can go
home again.
Today, my title is vice president for University
Advancement.
And, today, I do have a beautiful championship ring.
In 1992, we returned to campus for the 20th anniversary
of that first AIAW championship. Jostens had bought us
the rings to commemorate the accomplishment. Finally!
The name on my ring, however, was Grentz, not Shank!
When I look out at our campus, I see so much promise.
Our enrollment has topped 4,000 students.
Immaculata College is now Immaculata University.
The campus also boasts a new library, Draper Walsh
Stadium, which houses our lacrosse, soccer and field
hockey teams, a softball field and a new 750-seat baseball
stadium. Plans are under way to build a student union
and a science and nursing building.
When I attended Immaculata, men’s institutions
such as Villanova, St. Joseph’s, and LaSalle were men’sonly colleges, and each had a “sister” school. But times
have changed. We went co-ed with our undergraduate
college in 2005.
Only one percent of the students taking the SATs
are interested in attending a single-sex college. At
Immaculata, the ratio of women to men is 63 to 37
percent. We have men’s sports. And the future echoes
the past. Our men’s basketball team went to the NCAA
Tournament after just three years.
In my family, for my two sons, the focus is still
on the Mighty Macs and the fact that for the first
three consecutive years of the women’s tournament,
Immaculata was the only national women’s basketball
champion this country had ever known.
As young Karl and Kevin got older, both of them
wanted to know what it was like when I played. I never
put any of that stuff in the house, but I had a video of
our championship game against Queens in 1973. They
wanted to see it. So I said, “Go ahead and look at it. I’m
not going to watch it again.”
So, they watched it, screaming, “Look at Mom!”
“She played just like you, Kevin,” young Karl said.
“She took her time, got down the floor, and then made
those outlet passes.”
“You played just like me,” Kevin said.
“No,” I told him, “I think you played just like me.”
Mighty Macs Tina
Krah (#35) heads to
the basket and scores.
45
IN 1972, 11 REMARK ABLE YOUNG WOMEN AND THEIR
COACH FROM IMM ACUL ATA COLLEGE ACHIE VED T H E
I M P O S S IBLE , W IN N IN G T H E FIR ST-E VER NATIONAL
W O M E N ’ S C O L L E G E B A S K E T B A L L C H A M P I O N S H I P,
AND AGAINST ALL ODDS, CAPTURING THE TITLE
AGAIN IN 1973 AND 1974. THE LEGENDARY MIGHT Y
MACS DEMONSTRATED A DOMINANCE RARELY SEEN IN
ANY SPORT, EITHER WOMEN’S OR MEN’S, BECOMING
TRUE HEROES OF INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS.
46
During her time at Immaculata, Rush
influenced players such as Theresa Shank
Grentz, Rene Muth Portland, and Marianne
Crawford Stanley, who would go on to become
star basketball coaches themselves. Rush later
coached the 1975 U.S. women’s basketball
team at the Pan American games, leading the
team to a gold medal finish.
Rush is the founder and president of Future
Stars Camps, one of the largest camps in the
country, which more than 100,000 children
have attended. For 40 years, Future Stars has
held basketball, field hockey, soccer, all sport,
and sports and arts camps for girls and boys.
Cathy
Rush
During just seven years, she led Immaculata’s
Mighty Macs to three first-ever National
Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for
Women (AIAW) championships from 1972 to
1974, five eastern AIAW championships, and
two national AIAW championship runner-ups.
Her career record at Immaculata is 149 wins
and 15 losses, giving her a stunning 91%
winning percentage. She won not just games,
but new recognition for women’s basketball.
In 2000, Rush became a member of the
Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, and in
2008, she was inducted into the Naismith
Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. She is one
of the few women who have been inducted
into the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame, and she is
one of only six “outsiders” inducted into the
prestigious Philadelphia Big Five Hall of Fame.
Although she neither played for nor coached
at a member institution, she was recognized
by the Big Five for her contributions and
commitment to women’s basketball. She
received Special Achievement Awards from
both the New Jersey and Philadelphia Sports
Writers’ Associations and from the Delaware
County Athletes Hall of Fame.
head coach
T
hrough coaching women’s basketball at
Immaculata College, Cathy Rush became
a leader in women’s sports. At a time
when women’s basketball still used archaic
rules, Rush chose to teach her players the
more aggressive tactics used in men’s games,
which led to excellent results.
Currently a resident of Sarasota, FL, Rush has
two sons and six grandchildren.
In 1978, Rush became the first female
commentator for women’s basketball on
national television. She has worked with NBC,
CBS, ESPN, CBN, and PRISM.
NAISMITH
MEMORIAL
BASKETBALL
HALL OF FAME
INDUCTEE
‘08
47
Denise
conway
D
enise Conway Crawford was on all three
Mighty Macs national championship teams
from 1972 to 1974. A graduate of Archbishop
Prendergast High School, she coached the
basketball teams at Ridley South Junior High
School for four years where she taught foreign
languages. She also coached junior varsity and
varsity basketball for Catholic Youth Organizations
for 15 years and was awarded the “For God and
Youth Award” for her service to the community.
Crawford received her Pennsylvania license to
sell real estate in 1984 and currently works as
a realtor for Century 21 Alliance. She is active
in Annunciation Parish in Havertown, PA, where
she is on the parish council, a member of the St.
Vincent de Paul Society, and serves as a Eucharistic
minister. She has been married to Jim Crawford
for 36 years. They reside in Havertown, PA and
have four children and four grandchildren.
Crawford comments on her experience with the Mighty
Macs that, “We had absolutely nothing but our Godgiven talent and our camaraderie. We had our own
sneakers, and our own socks. We bought our own
warm-ups and we used the hand-me-down uniforms
that teams had used before us. Honestly, that was
enough. We won three national championships with
very little equipment, but with a lot of heart.”
48
Marianne
CRAWFORD
A
fter participating in basketball programs through
Archbishop Prendergast High School and the
Catholic Youth Organization, Marianne Crawford
Stanley went on to play for Immaculata’s Mighty Macs.
Her performance as a point guard helped them achieve
their 1973 and 1974 national championships, and she
was twice named a Kodak All-American in basketball.
After graduating from Immaculata in 1976, Stanley
began coaching and later came to Old Dominion
University. She spent nine years there, leading
her team to three national championships and
achieving an unbelievable .820 winning percentage.
Stanley coached at the University of Pennsylvania,
the University of Southern California, Stanford
University, and the University of California,
Berkeley, developing a reputation as a skilled
coach, an exceptional tactician, and a champion
of equal pay for men’s and women’s coaches.
In addition to coaching college teams, Stanley
has coached WNBA teams, such as the
Washington Mystics, the New York Liberty,
and the Los Angeles Sparks. She has also led
teams to gold medals in the 1983 Goodwill
Games and the 1986 World Championships.
Stanley was voted the WNBA Coach of the Year
in 2002, and she was inducted into the Women’s
Basketball Hall of Fame in that same year.
TWO-Time KODAK
ALL-AMERICAN
‘75 ’76
49
Nancy
JOHNSTON
50
C
oming to Immaculata from Woodson High
School, Nancy Johnston played on the 1973
championship team. She studied mathematics
and physics and was in the math club for three years,
including one year as the club’s vice president. In her
junior and senior years, she was part of the Immaculata
College Honor Society and the Sigma Zeta National
Science and Mathematics Honor Society. She also
served on the Academic Policy Committee during her
senior year. She graduated from Immaculata in 1976.
In January of 2010, she was named the director of
the Division I Women’s Basketball Championship.
In this new role, Krah is responsible for the
preliminary round and the Women’s Final Four
ticket program, team transportation, and the
NCAA Women’s Basketball Officiating Program.
“Women’s basketball has continued to grow over
the years at every level,” says Krah. “The level
of athletic talent, the quality of coaching and the
national exposure to our game has certainly improved
since 1972 when Immaculata started a three-year
run at national championships. The competitiveness
in recruiting and resources committed to women’s
basketball programs certainly has changed the level of
expectations for the sport. I believe the game is healthy
and I am certain it will continue to grow for the good.”
Tina
KRAH
T
ina Krah graduated from Allentown Central
Catholic High School and played on the 1974
championship team. Her Division I women’s
basketball coaching career spans 20 years at
universities such as Michigan State, California,
California State Fullerton, and San Jose State.
She served as the director of women’s basketball
operations at Vanderbilt University and in 2001
went on to become an assistant director and then
an associate director for championships for the
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
51
Marie
LIGUORI
M
arie Liguori Williams came to Immaculata
from Point Pleasant Borough High School
in New Jersey and played on the 1974
Mighty Macs championship team. She earned
her Bachelor of Arts in biology and chemistry at
Immaculata and graduated in 1977. She married
Jim Williams in 1980, and she coached their three
children who participated in YMCA basketball.
Williams received her Doctor of Podiatric Medicine in
1982 from Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine. While
there, she was a player-coach for the coed basketball
team. She was the first clinical dean of podiatry at
Barry University School of Podiatric Medicine in
Miami Shores, FL. In 2009, the University named
Williams an honorary alumna, and she was the
keynote speaker at the commencement ceremony.
Williams is currently the director of the division of
podiatric medicine in the department of surgery
at Aventura Hospital and Medical Center in
Miami, FL. She is also the chief of the department
of podiatry at Jackson North Medical Center
in North Miami Beach, FL, and she has been
the residency director for podiatric medicine
and surgery there for the past 25 years.
“It has become a very fast-paced game,”
says Williams about women’s college basketball.
“Most people know about women’s basketball
now; it’s a very common sport, well-received in
most communities, especially in college and now
at the WNBA. Young women and children have
aspirations to become part of the basketball world.”
52
A
fter playing basketball in high school at Villa
Maria Academy and winning a Catholic academies
championship, Judy Marra Martelli went on to
win three national championships as a point guard for
the Mighty Macs during her four years at Immaculata.
She played with the team during their tour in Australia
in 1974, which was the first time an American
women’s college team played outside the U.S.
Judy
MARRA
Martelli graduated from Immaculata in 1975 with
her degree in sociology. She served as the assistant
women’s basketball coach at Villanova University
from 1975 to 1978. In 1976, she married Phil
Martelli, the men’s basketball coach at St. Joseph’s
University. They live in Media, PA and have three
children, and one grandson. Two of their children
are assistant basketball coaches at universities.
Martelli has served as a volunteer with Coaches
vs. Cancer, a collaboration between the American
Cancer Society and the National Association of
Basketball Coaches (NABC) that promotes healthy
living and cancer awareness. She has helped to
raise more than $7.5 million since 1996, and $1
million of this money has gone to help build a Hope
Lodge at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in PA.
Regarding the game of women’s basketball
today, Martelli said, “Women now have more
options to work out and play all year. They have
become much stronger. Scholarships have given
women these opportunities. They also are able
to travel more. But with this comes much more
of a time commitment and responsibilities.”
53
Maureen
MOONEY
54
M
aureen Mooney, daughter of Helen (Daley)
and Leo Mooney, was born in 1951 and
grew up in northeast Philadelphia. Her
mother was a renowned basketball player of her day,
known city-wide as one of the Daley sisters (Helen
and Peg). Maureen Mooney originally attended St.
Matthew’s and later Maternity BVM elementary
schools where her basketball career began as her
mother coached her. Mooney attended St. Hubert’s
High School in Philadelphia where she was the
captain of the basketball team and the highest
scorer of her day. Mooney’s father was by far her
number one fan. When she played for Immaculata,
he kept meticulous records in hand-written copy
books, notating every point, foul, and free-throw
for every player on the team for every game.
Mooney majored in accounting at Immaculata.
After graduating in 1973, she went to work for
Bonwit Teller clothier in center city Philadelphia
as a manager of a retail floor. She later worked for
Proctor-Silex and a variety of other manufacturing
companies in accounting and receivables.
Sadly, Mooney never stepped on to the basketball
court after leaving college. She died in 2005
after a prolonged illness. While Mooney never
married or had any children of her own, she
found great joy in her nieces and nephews,
Shannon, Michael, Sarah, Helena, and James.
R
Portland then coached for two years at St. Joseph’s
University and for two years at the University
of Colorado. Penn State’s Joe Paterno took
notice of her commitment to women’s athletics
and hired her to coach the Lady Lions, the
university’s women’s basketball team. Portland
held this position for 27 years, helping the team
gain their first No. 1 ranking in 1991 and their
first appearance at the Final Four in 2000.
She was twice named Coach of the Year by the
Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA),
and was twice named Big Ten Coach of the Year.
In 2007, she won her 600th career victory.
Portland is married to John Portland,
and they have four children.
Rene
MUTH
ene Muth Portland came to Immaculata College
from Villa Maria Academy and helped lead
the Mighty Macs to all three of their national
championships. She won three Outstanding College
Athlete of America Awards and a New York Press
All-American Citation. After earning her degree from
Immaculata in 1975, she stayed at the college for
a year as an assistant to her coach, Cathy Rush.
55
Pat
OPILA
P
at Opila Penater played basketball during her grammar school days and played
field hockey at Archbishop Prendergast
High School. She helped the Mighty Macs
win their 1972 national championship. In
the summers during her college years, she
served as a camp counselor with the Upper Darby Recreational Department, working
with school children in local playgrounds.
She graduated from Immaculata in 1972
with her degree in special education. She
went on to teach at Holy Cross School in
Springfield, PA for about four years, and she
later volunteered with Mothers Against Drunk
Driving in Allentown, PA. She married Frank
Penater, a family doctor, and they had one
son, Matthew. She passed away in 1980.
56
J
anet Ruch Boltz, a guard for the Mighty Macs
on the 1972 and 1973 national championship
teams, came to Immaculata from Archbishop
Prendergast High School. Following her graduation
in 1973 with her degree in economics, she
worked in Philadelphia in the insurance industry.
She married James Boltz in 1975, and the
couple moved to Connecticut, where their first
two children, Jonathan and Eileen, were born.
In 1979, Boltz and her family moved back to
Pennsylvania and lived in Glen Mills. After her third
child, Sarah, was born, Boltz became involved
in coaching high school summer basketball. She
coached for many years on the Catholic Youth
Organization level at her children’s school, St.
Thomas the Apostle, and for her daughters’ Delco
Lady Wildcats Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) teams.
Janet
RUCH
Her passion for basketball continued, but she
chose to give up coaching to attend all her
children’s high school sporting events. Her
children are all married, with Jonathan and
Sarah living in the Washington, D.C. area, and
Eileen residing in Wilmington, DE. Her first
granddaughter, Courtney, is now one year old, and
Boltz enjoys spending her free time spoiling her.
“Women’s basketball has changed greatly since
the early 1970s,” Boltz says. “Once Title IX was
passed, girls were afforded the opportunity to
receive athletic scholarships. Once this occurred,
most girls were playing one sport year round.
AAU teams, summer camps, and clinics for
coaches as well as players were all byproducts
of Title IX. Women’s basketball has evolved into
a stronger, quicker and better-coached game.”
57
Mary
SCHARFF
A
fter helping her Paul VI High School basketball
team win a state parochial title in 1972 and a
20-2 record in 1974, Mary Scharff became a
star of the Immaculata Mighty Macs’ dynasty. The
Mighty Macs recruited Scharff in 1974 when she
was a college freshman majoring in mathematics.
For two years, the team had played and beaten
the best schools in the nation, and Scharff helped
them win their third national title in 1974.
Scharff won a title of her own three years later when
she was named a Kodak All-American player, with
1,231 career points and an average of 15 points
per game. She developed a reputation as a brilliant
shooter, a queen of three-point shots before the
three-point line existed. Scharff played with the
Mighty Macs during their tour in Australia, in the first
women’s game at Madison Square Garden, and in
the first women’s game to be televised nationwide.
A year after graduating from Immaculata, she
landed the head coaching jobs at Archbishop
Prendergast High School and John W. Hallahan
Catholic Girls’ High School. She gained further
experience as an assistant basketball coach at
Villanova University for two seasons. She played for
and then coached the California Dream women’s
professional basketball team in 1979 and 1980.
In 1987, she returned to Immaculata to serve
as a basketball coach there for 11 years.
Playing basketball and coaching has provided the
fun and motivation that has kept Scharff going
even through difficult times. “Basketball got me
through,” Scharff commented. “The kids are great.
I love coaching. I love coming to practice.”
KODAK
ALL-AMERICAN
‘77
58
A
native of Glenolden, Pennsylvania, Theresa
Shank Grentz played on the court at Cardinal
O’Hara High School, leading her team to
three Philadelphia Catholic and City League titles.
At Immaculata, where she majored in biology with
a minor in chemistry, Grentz played on all three
Immaculata women’s national championship squads.
In 1974, she was named to the U.S. national team
in the World Basketball Championship Games.
Theresa
Shank
Grentz’s coaching career began shortly after her
Immaculata graduation in 1974, when she was hired
as the part-time head women’s basketball coach at
St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. After guiding
the university’s Hawks to two winning seasons, Grentz
was hired at Rutgers, becoming the first Division I
full-time women’s basketball head coach in the nation.
She spent 19 years at Rutgers, where she coached the
Scarlet Knights to nine NCAA Tournament appearances
and to the 1982 AIAW national championship title.
In 1995, Grentz became the head women’s basketball
coach at the University of Illinois winning the
school’s only Big Ten title in women’s basketball
in 1997. She earned Big Ten Coach of the Year
and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association
(WBCA) District Coach of the Year in 1997 and
1998. During her time at Illinois, she also was
named the 1992 U.S. Olympic team’s coach.
Grentz was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall
of Fame in 2001. Recently she won the WBCA’s Carol
Eckman Award, and was named Female Athlete of
the Millennium by the Delaware County Daily Times in
1999. Grentz also served as president of the Women’s
Basketball Coaches’ Association (WBCA) for two years.
At the time of her retirement, Grentz was the
tenth winningest Division I women’s basketball
coach in history. Today, she serves as the Vice
President for University Advancement at her
alma mater. Grentz lives in West Chester, PA
with her husband, Karl. They have two sons.
Reflecting on her time on the Mighty Macs team,
Grentz says, “It was great teamwork, it was great
camaraderie, we cared for one another, we worked
for one another…And the goal was to win.”
Three-Time
ALL-AMERICAN
‘72 ’73 ‘74
59
Maureen
STUHLMAN
60
G
raduating from Cardinal O’Hara High School in
Springfield, PA, Maureen Stuhlman came to
Immaculata through the Archdiocesan Teaching
Plan, which arranged free education at a Catholic
college for one year, in exchange for two years of
teaching at an Archdiocesan elementary school.
Stuhlman served as a basketball referee to help
put herself through college, and she helped the
Mighty Macs win their first two championships
in 1972 and 1973. While on the team, Stuhlman
took her first airplane flight, and she cites this
as the beginning of her love affair with travel.
After college, Stuhlman coached high school
basketball for two years while teaching elementary
school. Then she entered the travel industry,
serving as a tour guide through Europe and South
America, a trainer for travel agency computer
systems, and the director of a travel cooperative.
Today she provides consulting and assistance
for small business start-up companies.
“I can only hope that today’s women’s basketball
players can experience some of the joy we found in
the game and friendships,” Stuhlman comments.
“Basketball at that time at Immaculata was a pure
experience of love, trust and fun. What began as
a pastime during our formal education became
an unparalleled life education. It wasn’t just the
members of the team who were instrumental in
winning each game, it was the entire community of
sisters, students, families, friends, managers and
Cathy along with those on the court who succeeded.
That’s what ‘it takes a village…’ is all about … I
infrequently see some of my teammates, but I think
of them more often than even I realize. Each one lives
on in my heart; I love and miss them; I always will.”
A
Janet
YOUNG
fter graduating from York Catholic High School,
Janet Young Eline was on all three Mighty Macs
national championship teams, from 1972 to
1974. “It was an immeasurable experience shared
by a special group,” she said. “We worked hard,
pushed our teammates to higher levels than we had
dreamed possible. And we had so much fun.”
After graduating from Immaculata, Young married
John Eline in 1976. She continued to be involved
in sports by serving as the athletic director and the
girls’ basketball coach at St. Francis Xavier School in
Gettysburg, PA, and then by serving as the assistant
women’s basketball coach at Gettysburg College.
Eline has an extensive teaching career, having
taught Spanish, French, physical education,
mathematics, and English as a second language to
students at a variety of grade levels. She served as
a migrant advocate for migrant child development
programs at a number of school districts from
1992 to 1999, and she is a freelance translator
and interpreter for English and Spanish. Eline
lives in Gettysburg, PA with her husband. They
have two children and eight grandchildren.
61
B
Barbara
DEUBLE
arbara Deuble Kelly played on the
1974 Mighty Macs championship
team. She was also involved with
Campus Ministry and the tennis team.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts in biology from Immaculata in 1977. She is a
member of Immaculata’s Heritage Soci-
S
Sue
forsyth
ue Forsyth O’Grady was on the
first Mighty Macs national championship team in 1972. In that
same year, she married Tom O’Grady
and graduated from Immaculata with
her degree in mathematics. She earned
her master’s degree in education from
Cabrini College in 1993. For 20 years,
she served as a basketball referee for
high school and college games. She was
a varsity basketball coach at Archbishop
Carroll High School from 1973 to 1975,
62
ety, which is a group of people who have
named Immaculata in their estate plans.
She became a lieutenant commander
with the U.S. Naval Reserve, and she is
now retired and lives in Minnesota with
her husband, Michael Kelly. They have
two sons and two grandsons.
and her team won the Catholic League
Championship of Philadelphia in 1974.
O’Grady has been a math teacher at
Haverford Middle School since 1991,
where she has coached track and where
she still coaches field hockey and lacrosse. She and her husband have four
children and five grandchildren.
Commenting on women’s college basketball today, O’Grady says, “I am most
thrilled for those players who are getting
the opportunity for higher education that
they might have missed before Title IX
was passed. I know that much more is
demanded of college athletes today than
in 1972, and I respect their devotion
and commitment to the game. Playing
a team sport can teach you so many
things that will help you later in life, so
I hope that all college athletes appreciate the athletic talent they have been
given, and use it wisely. I’m proud to be
a member of the Immaculata team that
helped open the door for all of this.”
C
Betty
Ann
HOFFMAN
oming to Immaculata from Archbishop Prendergast High School,
Betty Ann Hoffman Quinn played
two sports at college, field hockey and
basketball. She played on both the 1972
and 1973 national championship teams.
continued pursuing her love of sports by
serving as the head coach of girls’ basketball and the assistant coach for girls’
field hockey.
Quinn graduated from Immaculata in
1973 with her degree in biology. She
holds master’s degrees in science education and environmental toxicology, and
she has worked as a toxicologist at the
Environmental Protection Agency since
1992. While working as a science teacher
in the Lower Merion School District, she
Commenting on the game of women’s
basketball today, Quinn said, “Women’s
basketball has come so far since my high
school/college days. My freshman year
at Immaculata was the first year that
women played full court, five-on-five basketball, like the men’s teams did. It was
a significant change for me, because my
traditional position was stationary guard,
and stationary guards were limited to
the defensive half of the court (and, they
could only dribble three times before they
were required to pass the ball!). I feel
that the change to the five-on-five game
resulted in tremendous development of
women as skilled players and all-around
athletes, because now everyone had
to run, pass, and shoot. Today, I enjoy
watching women’s college-level games,
even more than men’s games. The teamwork, skill, and athleticism I see in the
women’s game is inspiring, and I wish I
could be out there with them!”
Patricia
Mulhern
P
atricia Mulhern Loughran, who
played basketball at Villa Maria
Academy, graduated from Immaculata in 1977 with a bachelor’s in
psychology and education. She helped
the 1974 Mighty Macs team win their
third national championship. Loughran
remembers, “‘Home advantage’
always belonged to our team, even
when playing on opponents’ courts,
as we knew that the large segment of
Immaculata’s community who were
unable to travel with us were glued to
the radio at home, listening to each
play, cheering us on, and believing in
our success. We carried them with us
in our hearts.”
Loughran, currently a school
counselor, has also taught elementary
school and remedial reading. She
coached fifth and sixth grade girls’
Catholic Youth Organization basketball from 1992 to 2002. She and her
husband John live in Broomall, PA,
and they have three children.
“The opportunities for women,
which began with basketball, but
extend to many sports today, are
endless,” Loughran comments. “How
exciting to reflect on the honor it was
to be a part of Immaculata’s team so
involved in contributing to the explosion in opportunities and equality for
women in sports! So many programs
are available for young girls to participate in athletic activities.”
63
ROLL OUT THE PINK CARPET!
I
mmaculata’s The Mighty Macs The Movie
Black Tie Gala partnered with the Women’s
Basketball Coaches Association’s Pink Zone
program, the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, and
Coaches vs. Cancer, to promote breast cancer
awareness. The Mighty Macs arrived at the event
in a stretch pink limousine.
Mary Scharff ’77, former
Mighty Mac team player
with Matthew Penater,
son of Pat Opila Penater
Upon arriving at the Franklin Institute, guests
stepped onto a pink carpet before entering the
building where they were greeted with pink
champagne. IHM Sisters wore pink ribbons and
basketball shaped cookies tied with pink ribbons
were given to guests at the end of the evening.
The Mighty Macs and Immaculata President
Sister R. Patricia Fadden, IHM, Ed.D.,
continue to appear on bus and train advertising
throughout Philadelphia, PA., promoting breast
cancer awareness (see advertisement right).
64
Immaculata University IS IN THE ZONE!
BREAST CANCER AWARENESS
President of Immaculata University
The legendary Immaculata Mighty Macs Women’s Basketball Team-winners of
the 1972, 1973 and 1974 National Women’s College Basketball Championships.
I MMACULATA UN I VERSITY
www.Year of theMighty Macs.com
MHMTAY CMUAL CAST A
ED
W W W. Y E A R O FW
T HWEW
M. II G
. C. O
MU
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65
When it came
time to celebrate
the legendary
Mighty Macs
women’s
basketball team
there was but
one choice for
the event’s
venue, and it
was The Franklin
Institute. The
architecturally
spectacular
building was
named in honor
of Benjamin
Franklin and is
a Philadelphia
landmark. Dating
back to 1824,
the museum
is one of the
oldest centers
of science
education and
development
in the United
States. The
Franklin Institute
also houses
the Benjamin
Franklin National
Memorial.
BASKETBALL ROY
66
66 I M
I MMMAACCUUL LAAT TAAUUNNI VI VE ERRSSI TI TY Y
YALTY CELEBRATED
Banners hanging between the Franklin Institute’s pillars
hailed the Mighty Macs as heroes of intercollegiate
athletics. Guests clad in formal attire disembarked
from limousines and ascended a red carpet up the
steps to the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial.
I
n the lobby, a spectacular lighted
basketball and hoop greeted guests as
a unique chandelier. The famous Boathouse Row of Philadelphia was outlined in
blue lights, Immaculata’s school color. The
PECO building’s crown lights displayed the
message, “Immaculata U. Mighty Macs
Women’s Basketball Champs 40th Anniversary! www.mightymacsthemovie.com.”
These lavish festivities were part of The
Mighty Macs The Movie Black Tie Gala, held
on March 29, 2011. This sold-out event,
for which there was a substantial waiting
list to get in, celebrated the 40th anniversary of the team’s three national women’s
college basketball championships and included a private screening of The Mighty Macs,
which will be released in October 2011.
The evening began with Cathy Rush
and many of the former Mighty Macs
signing basketballs in the Four Seasons Hotel. The pink limousine then
ferried them to The Franklin Institute
to begin the events for the evening.
Guests gathered to enjoy fine food and
drinks in the Benjamin Franklin National
Memorial, where three glittering Waterford Crystal basketball trophies formed
the centerpiece. These trophies were
not awarded when the first national college women’s basketball tournaments
were held, but an anonymous donor
thought the teams deserved them now.
The entertainment for the evening featured Immaculata’s new choral group,
In Unison, dressed in costumes from the
movie. They delighted guests with soulful
renditions of American Pie, The Locomotion,
and other popular songs from the ’70s.
Guests were ushered into The Franklin
Institute’s IMAX ® theater and formally welcomed by Sister R. Patricia Fadden, IHM,
Ed.D., Immaculata University’s president.
“In honor of the Mighty Macs’ trailblazing victories,” she announced, “U.S.
Congressmen Jim Gerlach and Patrick
Meehan have declared Tuesday, March 29,
2011 ‘Immaculata University Mighty Macs
Day’—while Philadelphia Mayor Michael
A. Nutter issued a tribute to the IU Mighty
Macs women’s championship basketball
teams.” Sister Patricia also thanked The
Mighty Macs director, Tim Chambers, for
bringing the team to the silver screen.
After an inspired piano performance of
pieces by Chopin and Scriabin from Immaculata’s resident Steinway Artist Dr.
William Carr, the movie screening began.
As guests gradually left the gala,
loath to leave, Immaculata students
and staff members presented them with
View-Masters with reels of Mighty Macs
photos and campus shots and with cookies iced with a basketball design—a
fun finish to an elegant evening.
67
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1
2
3
Co-captains of the Mighty Macs 1974 national
championship squad (L-R) Immaculata University
Vice President for University Advancement and U.S.
Olympic Coach Theresa Shank Grentz ’74 and Denise
Conway Crawford ’74 escorted on the red carpet by
Immaculata alum Andy Halstead ’11
4
PLEASE FIND Image Identifications on pages 122 & 123
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69
5
6
7
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Mighty Macs: Michael Mooney, brother of deceased player
Maureen Mooney, Theresa Shank Grentz ’74, IU vice president
for University Advancement and U.S. Olympic Coach, Marie
Liguori Williams ’77, Janet Ruch Boltz ’73, Sister Marian
William Hoben, IHM, former president of Immaculata, Cathy
Rush, Judy Marra Martelli ’75, Denise Conway Crawford ’74,
and Barbara Deuble Kelly ’77.
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13
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14
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Carla Gugino, in her role as
Cathy Rush, drove this 1971 VW
bus in The Mighty Macs movie.
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74 I M
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75
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21
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23
26
27
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25
28
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(L-R) Immaculata’s Vice
President for University
Advancement, U.S. Olympic
Coach Theresa Shank Grentz
’74 and IU’s Vice President for
University Communications
and The Mighty Macs
The Movie Black Tie Gala
organizer Bob Cole.
87
87
Of course, you can’t go to the movies without popcorn,
pretzels and your favorite soft drink, which were in
abundance when The Mighty Macs was screened at The
Franklin Institute’s Tuttleman IMAX® Theater in conjunction
with The Mighty Macs The Movie Black Tie Gala.
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89
89
80
81
The Mighty Macs actresses (L-R) Kate Nowlin;
Taylor Steel; Meghan Sabia; Tim Chambers,
director of The Mighty Macs, with his wife
Kathleen Chambers; Bianka Brunson; Kim
Blair; Katie Hayek; and Kali Curran, wife of
Vince Curran, producer of The Mighty Macs.
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91
91
92
93
IMMACULATA BLUE
Boat House Row photos
94
Boat house row
The City of Philadelphia’s Boat House Row was lit
blue in honor of the Mighty Macs on March 29, 2011.
The lights reflect off of the Schuylkill River.
95
96
T AU U
ER
TA
NN
I VI V
ER
SS
I TI YT Y
W W W. Yw
E AwRwO. YFeTaHr Eo fMt hI G
H Ti gY hMt yAM
C aS c. Cs O
eM
. cMo m
97
97
Philadelphia’s PECO Building’s crown
lights blazed Immaculata blue in tribute
to the Mighty Macs on March 29, 2011 in
conjunction with The Mighty Macs
the Movie Black Tie Gala.
98
THE MIGHTY MACS
LIGHT UP PHILADELPHIA
99
A T im C hambers F ilm , S tarring C arla G u gino , D avid B oreana z and T ony & A cademy A ward W inner E llen B u rstyn
By TIM CHAMBERS
100
If you examine the history of
inspirational sports movies, you will
conclude that the most successful films
in this genre typically use sport as a
metaphor. Miracle wasn’t just about
hockey, it was about the Cold War.
Remember the Titans wasn’t just about
football, it was about race relations.
S
imilarly, The Mighty Macs isn’t just about
basketball, it’s about the equality of dreams
and how a young coach would not only
unite people from different faiths, but also
change a generation of young women.
As a screenwriter, I needed to go through an
evaluation process to determine, “what is the
film about?” I know the story, but what is the
film? I was looking for several elements—great
lead character, depth of supporting characters,
obstacles faced, the impact the head coach had
on her players, the social effects of the story, and
most importantly—how does it end?
When I say, “how does it end?” the obvious answer is “they win!” But, quite frankly, I was more
interested in what happened to these girls/this
team after their playing days were over. More
specifically, “what was the immortality of Cathy
Rush’s influence?” I was happy to discover that
the impact the coach had on her players allowed
them to succeed beyond their playing days.
Some went on to be doctors. Several went on to
coach basketball in college and in the WNBA
– namely, Theresa Grentz, Rene Portland and
Marianne Stanley.
All the ingredients were there. And now it was
up to me and my team to re-create one of the
greatest underdog stories in sports history.
P H O T O S C O U R T E S Y of T I M C H A M B E R S
Tim Chambers
Producer, Director, and Writer
“The Mighty Macs”
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
The Mighty Macs ON Campus
A hum of excitement filled Alumnae
Hall Theater as students, parents,
alumni, IHM Sisters, and staff gathered
to watch The Mighty Macs during three
separate screenings on March 30, 2011.
S
ome had endured long lines to get into the theater,
eagerly anticipating the movie showing.
The red Volkswagen van from the movie, driven
by Carla Gugino who played Cathy Rush, greeted
guests as they entered Alumnae Hall. Students in “Year
of the Macs” T-shirts sold popcorn and snacks to
benefit the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, named in memory
of the former North Carolina State University head
women’s basketball coach who battled breast cancer.
110
Filled with pride in their school, students applauded
when the film’s title displayed on the screen, and they
cheered at certain points in the movie when they saw
names and places they recognized. Members of the
audience who had served as extras enthusiastically
pointed out the scenes they had been in.
After each screening, Tim Chambers, director of
the movie, spoke about his extensive primary source
interviews for the movie, the making of the movie, and his
decision to make it family-friendly and to be respectful
of the college, the Sisters, and the Catholic faith. He also
held a question and answer session with the audiences.
Bianka Brunson, Meghan Sabia and Katie Hayek, actresses
from the movie, also attended some of the screenings.
“It was nice to see the finished product,” said
Karen Matweychuk, director of the Immaculata
annual fund. “The movie created a lot of energy
on campus and in the community.”
111
IHM Sisters
ARE STILL
CHEERING
for the
mighty Macs
112
E
xcitement filled the room as the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart
of Mary, awaited the private screening of the movie about the Mighty Macs.
After all the glitz and glamour of the
black tie gala and the three screenings on
the campus of Immaculata, it was time for
the Sisters in Camilla Hall to appreciate The
Mighty Macs’ movie. Approximately 60 Sisters enjoyed a light buffet in the Community
room and then settled in to watch the film.
After the movie ended, Theresa Shank
Grentz, ’74, vice president for University
Advancement and a former Mighty Mac
from the three national championship
teams, visited with the Sisters and conducted
a Q&A. In addition, Tim Chambers, the
writer, producer, and director of The Mighty
Macs, paid a visit to the Sisters at Camilla
Hall, discussed the making of the movie
and also fielded questions from the audience. Chambers even offered the Sisters a
ride in the vintage red VW van that was
used during the filming of the movie.
113
Immaculata University
President Sister R.
Patricia Fadden, IHM,
Ed.D. and Notre Dame
President Rev. John I.
Jenkins, C.S.C., D. Phil.,
RUDY Meets
The Mighty Macs
The week-long celebration of the 40th anniversary of Immaculata’s first national
women’s basketball championship season culminated when Immaculata University
President Sister R. Patricia Fadden, IHM, Ed.D., met with University of Notre Dame
President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., D. Phil., prior to the South Bend, Indiana advance
screening of The Mighty Macs.
STORY CONTINUES ON PAGE 117
114
1
2
4
1. IU President Sr. R. Patricia Fadden, IHM, Ed.D.,
and Notre Dame President Emeritus Rev. Theodore
Hesburgh, C.S.C., S.T.D. 2. IU’s Vice President for
University Advancement and U.S. Olympic Coach
Theresa Shank Grentz ’74 3. Pictured in Father
Hesburgh’s office are (L-R) Bob Cole, Father
Hesburgh, Sr. Patricia Fadden and Theresa Shank
Grentz 4. (clockwise) Sr. R. Patricia Fadden, Father Hesburgh and Dr. Patricia A. McAdams from
ND’s Office of Information Technologies
3
115
1
4
2
5
ALL PHOTO IDENTIFICATIONS LEFT TO RIGHT:
1. Sr. R. Patricia Fadden, IHM, Ed.D. at
Notre Dame’s Our Lady of Lourdes grot to,
which was built in 1896 as a replica of the
original in Lourdes, France. 2. Theresa
Shank Grentz, Notre Dame Head Women’s
Basketball Coach Muf fet McGraw and
Bob Cole 3. Sr. R. Patricia Fadden in ND’s
Joyce Center lobby 4.The Mighty Macs
writer/director Tim Chambers 5. Mary
Ann Kwiecinski and Andrew Frye, budget
and events administrator, Depar tment of
Development, Universit y of Notre Dame
3
116
ABOVE: IU’s Vice President for University Advancement and U.S. Olympic Coach Theresa Shank Grentz ’74 fields questions from the audience in Notre
Dame’s Eck Visitors Center Auditorium immediately following the screening of The Mighty Macs, while IU President Sister R. Patricia Fadden, IHM, Ed.D.,
looks on. The film’s writer/director Tim Chambers is seen standing behind Grentz. A reception followed The Mighty Macs Q & A.
N
otre Dame knows a thing or two about sports movies.
Rudy, considered to be a classic, helped pave the way for
The Mighty Macs. The reception and film presentation were
held at Notre Dame’s Eck Visitors Center Auditorium on March 31.
Sister R. Patricia Fadden, IU’s president, was joined on the trip
by The Mighty Macs writer/director Tim Chambers, Immaculata’s
Vice President for University Advancement and U.S. Olympic Coach
Theresa Shank Grentz ’74, and IU’s Vice President for University
Communications Bob Cole.
With Notre Dame’s golden dome as a constant point of reference,
the IU delegation toured the storied campus on a picture-perfect late
winter’s day.
The first stop was a Mighty Macs Final Four send-off for the Irish’s
women’s basketball team and Head Coach Muffet McGraw. Grentz
was McGraw’s former head coach at Saint Joseph’s University in
Philadelphia and presenter of ND’s 2001 women’s basketball national
championship trophy in her former role as president of the WBCA.
The group also had a private meeting with President Emeritus
of the University of Notre Dame, Rev. Theodore Martin Hesburgh, C.S.C., S.T.D.
The showing of The Mighty Macs drew an enthusiastic crowd of
Immaculata and women’s basketball fans.
Notre Dame’s Dr. Patricia A. McAdams (former Immaculata
faculty member) coordinated the visit, movie screening party and
the reception.
Go Fighting Irish! Go Mighty Macs!
117
THE Fighting Irish Hosted the Mighty Macs
118
acs at notre dame’s eck visitors center
119
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120 I M
Sister R. Patricia Fadden, IHM, Ed.D., president
of Immaculata University, is pictured inside of
the University of Notre Dame’s Main Building
Rotunda. The famous Notre Dame golden dome
crowns this structure.
121
121
11. Ed Rush with Ed Caruso, Sr.
12. Tracy Davidson with
guest Mark Carrow
13. Dr. William Carr, IU professor
of music and Steinway Artist
14. Bruce and Sharon McCullough
All Photo Identifications
From Pages 71–92, Left To Right
Page 69
1. The Mighty Macs arrived
at the Franklin Institute in a
pink stretch limousine.
2. Sister Marie Albert Kunberger, IHM,
emerita faculty and Sister Elaine
de Chantal Brookes, IHM, member
of the IU Board of Trustees
3. Michael Rush with his
mother Cathy Rush, national
championship basketball coach,
and his brother Ed Rush
4. Andy Halstead ’11, Sister
Stephen Anne Roderiquez, IHM,
Sister Mary Ellen Tennity, IHM,
and Stephen Vujevich ’11
Page 70
5. Betty Ann Hoffman Quinn ’73,
6. Mary Scharff ’77, Mighty Mac team
player with Matthew Penater
7. Janet Young Eline ’74, Mighty
Mac team player and Mollie
Lichty Fahnestock ’74
Page 72
8. Sister Joseph Marie Carter,
IHM, IU director of Academic
Advisement, Sister Lorraine
McGrew, IHM, chair of the IU Board
of Trustees, and Karl Grentz
9. Denise Conway Crawford ’74, Mighty
Mac team player with husband Jim
10. Theresa Shank Grentz ’74,
vice president for University
Advancement with husband Karl
122
15. Jim Coyne and Nancy
Rouse Coyne ’78
Page 73
16. Mary Healey, Erin MacCausland,
Missy Healey ’79, and Sister
Patricia Fadden, IHM
17. Sister Stephen Anne Roderiquez,
IHM, Sister Marie Esther Hart,
IHM, member of the IU Board of
Trustees, Sister Mary Ellen Tennity,
IHM and Sister Marie Lorraine
Bruno, IHM, emerita faculty
18. Margie Wellman, Maureen
McCullough, Esq. ’75, member of
the IU Board of Trustees, Marlene
Louden ’75, and Marie Liguori
Williams ’77, Mighty Mac team player.
19. Megan Udovich, Kathy MoranGannon, and Jennifer Moughan
26. Sister Anne Marie Burton,
IHM, emerita faculty
27. Immaculata students: Kelly
D’Ambrosio ’12, Courtney Ososkie
’11, Andy Halstead ’11, Heather
Conboy ’12, Steve Vujevich
’11, and Brenda Pohlig ’12
28. Theresa Shank Grentz, vice president
for University Advancement
and Mighty Mac team player
Page 78
29. IU student musical group, In
Unision singers Courtney Serpone
’12 and John Ericsson ’14
30. In Unision’s Lou Gardiner ’12
31. Mary Burke Flaherty ’46, Rosemary
Collins Murray ’46, Cathy Rush,
and Eva Adams Atkinson ’46
32. Vince Curran, The Mighty Macs
producer, with wife Kali
Page 79
33. Rebecca and Rich McPhillips
34. Collette and Nicole Farhat
20. Reporter, Autumn Marisa, interviews
the legendary Mighty Macs
35. Sister Clare Immaculate, IHM,
Sister Genevieve Daley, IHM,
RN, Sister Ann Bernadette
MacNamara, IHM, and Sister
Marian William Hoben, IHM
21. Ed Rush with his mother, Cathy
Rush, and brother Michael Rush
36. Mary Lou Cassidy Kramer,
Esq., ’70, and husband Jack
22. Patricia Finn Heim ’74
and husband Jay
37. Dr. Janet Kane, IU dean
of the College of Graduate
Studies, with husband Jim
Page 76
Page 77
38. Dr. Frank Breen and his wife Judy
23. Susannah Small and Dr.
Steven Siepser
39. Frederick Santarelli with wife
Letitia Huntzman Santarelli ’86
24. Michael Nuñez, IU’s director of
graphic design services and Tara
Basile, director of major gifts
Page 80
25. Theresa Shank Grentz, vice president
for University Advancement and
Mighty Mac team player (middle)
with sons Karl (left) and Kevin
40. Sister Ann Heath, IHM, IU’s vice
president for Academic Affairs,
with her sister Doreen Heath
41. Krista and Chris Linzey
42. Sister Marie Albert Kunberger,
IHM, emerita faculty with Sister
Helen Dolores Gilroy, IHM
43. Sister Elaine de Chantel Brookes,
IHM, member of the IU Board
of Trustees, Sister Cathy Nally,
IHM, IU’s executive director
of Mission and Ministry, Sister
Marie Albert Kunberger, IHM,
emerita faculty, Sister Judith
Parsons, IHM, assistant professor
of philosophy, and Sister Marita
David Kirsch, IHM, IU’s archivist
44. Dr. Steve Pugliese, IU’s vice president
for Student Development and
Engagement, with Peggy Behm ’81,
member of the IU Board of Trustees
Page 81
45. Class of 1970: Loreta Perthes,
Helen Halpin, Nina Giunta,
Denise Doyle, Kathy Clark, IU's
associate professor of foreign
languages, and Kathy Linaugh
46. Eleanor Kubacki, Dakota Silver,
Cathy Rush, and Dee Brodzik
47. Sister Carroll Isselmann, IHM, IU’s
director of Strategic Initiatives,
Sister Anne Marie Burton, IHM,
faculty emerita, and Sister
Carol Anne Couchara, IHM,
IU’s academic affairs liaison
48. Marie Moughan, IU’s
executive director of University
Communications and Tim Chambers,
director of The Mighty Macs
49. Patricia Canterino ’92, director of
IU’s Athletics and Recreation, Nina
Cammarano ’08, IU’s assistant
director of Sports Information, Karen
Matweychuk ’83, IU’s director of the
Annual Fund, and Rene Kilpatrick
50. Kendal Ridgeway and Peter Coe
Page 82
51. Jenn and Michael Rush
52. Chris Mennig and Erika Tock
53. Kathy and Joe Wusinich, III, Esq.,
member of the IU Board of Trustees
Immaculata University would like to thank
the following individuals/corporations who
sponsored tickets for the Sisters, Servants of
the Immaculate Heart of Mary to attend ‘The
Mighty Macs’ The Movie Black Tie Gala:
Full Ticket Sponsors
Page 83
54. Janet Young Eline ’74, Mighty
Mac team player with her
daughter Erin Eline Aumen
55. Jim Williams and Marie Liguori
Williams ’77, Mighty Mac team player
Kathleen Gallagher Healey ’76
Page 86
72. Cathy Rush with Antoinette
Schiavo ’56
73. Kevin Shank
56. Phil Martelli with wife Judy Marra
Martelli ’75, Mighty Mac team player
74. Don DiJulia with son Chris
and Cathy Rush
57. Janet Ruch Boltz ’73, Mighty Mac
team player and husband Jim
75. Victoria Guiteras Giunta ’68, Theresa
Murtagh, Sister Patricia Fadden, IHM,
Charles Kerrigan, member of the IU
Board of Trustees, and Paul Murtagh
58. Sue O’Grady ’72, Mighty Mac
team player with husband Tom
59. Stephen Quinn and his wife
Mighty Mac team player, Betty
Ann Hoffman Quinn ’73
Page 84
60. Jon and Kerrie Roche
61. Jack Lutz and Patricia McCrossan
62. Henry and Lynne Sciortino
63. Sister Rita O’Leary, IHM, IU’s director
of Planned Giving and Sister Marie
Lorraine Bruno, IHM, emerita faculty
64. Dan and Roseanne Cahill,
Carole Tripician, Kevin Cassidy,
and Lindsey Tripician
65. John Lieberman and his wife Jule Ann
66. Dr. Patricia Crea LaRocco ’71
and Barbara Crea Shannon ’70
67. Stephanie Hartman Kane ’73,
Margie O’Donnell Donohue ’73,
and son Sean Donohue
Page 85
68. Philip and Karen Earley
69. Sally Tamburello Winterton
’68 and husband John
70. Francine Colangelo Eisenmann ’78,
Dr. Maria Alonso ’78, Mighty Mac
team player, and Sister Maureen
Lawrence McDermott, IHM
71. Joe Healey, IU’s associate professor
of Philosophy with his wife
Page 87
76. Sister Rita Lenihan, IHM, Sister
Joanne Ralph, IHM, Sister Dolores
Joseph Bozzelli, IHM, Sister
John Evelyn Di Trolio, IHM, and
Sister Marianne Guiniven, IHM
77. Barbara Deuble Kelly ’77,
78. Shoshana Aron
79. Anthony Gargano, co-writer
of The Mighty Macs
Page 90
80. (Front row, L-R): Sister Marita David
Kirsch, IHM, IU archivist, Sister Mary
Henrich, IHM, assistant professor
of theology, Sister John Sheila
Galligan, IHM, professor of theology,
Sister Regina Foy, IHM, associate
professor of music, Meghan Sabia,
Kim Blair and Katie Hayek; Back
row: Taylor Steel and Kate Nowlin
81. Tim Chambers, director of The
Mighty Macs interviewed by
Bryon Scott of NBC-10
Mr. Michael and Mrs. Nancy McDermott Beatty ’82
Mrs. Mary Beth Czaus Bimmerle ’86
Mrs. Janet Ruch Boltz ’73
Mr. Dave and Mrs. Patti Boreanaz
Ms. Geraldine Boyle ’71
CALECO, Mr. Rick Winig
Dr. Kathleen Carter
Mrs. Madeline F. Christenson
Mr. Robert Cole
Mr. James and Mrs. Donna Foster
Mrs. Adele Williams Gerngross ’78
Ms. Kathryn Hemsley
Dr. Margaret Monahan Hogan ’63
Mr. Gary M. Holloway, Jr.
Mr. Philip G. Hubbard
Lt. Comdr. Barbara Deuble Kelly ’77
Keystone Digital Press, LLC, Mr. John P. Greene
Mr. Seth Kovanic
Ms. Dorothy J. McCrea
Ms. Mary Jane Almond McKenna ’57
Mr. Gary Michelson
Ms. Joan Gagliardi Monahan ’63
Mrs. Susan M. O’Grady ’72
Mr. Leo and Mrs. Maryanne Parsons
Mr. William Patzig
Mrs. Rene Muth Portland ’75
Ms. Elizabeth Ann Hoffman Quinn ’73
Ms. Vreni Ranjo
Mr. Edward J. Roach
The Sandy Hill Foundation, Mrs. Mimi Draper Walsh ’63
Ms. Mary E. Scharff ’77
Mrs. Doris M. Shank ’02
Ms. Marsha Sharp
Ms. Carol A. Sprang ’93M
Dr. Agnes Timothy
Mr. David C. Toner
USI Affinity, Mr. Jim Pitts
Mrs. Mimi Draper Walsh ’63
Miss Helen M. White ’48
Partial Ticket Sponsors
Ms. Lisa M. Ceddia
Ms. Cathy L. Dernoncourt
Mr. Thomas Egan
Ms. Cheryl Hart
Sister Marie Esther Hart, IHM
Mr. Joseph P. Healey and Mrs. Kathleen Gallagher Healey ’76
Mrs. Irene Schultes Jordan ’45
Ms. Ferne C. LaBati
Ms. Sandra Landeck
Dr. Daniel Machon
Ms. Martha M. Malanik
Ms. Mary Ann Meszaros
Mrs. Rebecca Powers Mohn
And all those who wish to remain anonymous
123
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CONGRATULATIONS IMMACULATA MIGHTY MACS,
CHAMPIONS OF WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
—1972, 1973, AND 1974.
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Congratulations to
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Immaculata College Mighty Macs
Women’s Basketball Champions
-1972, 1973, 1974
on “The Mighty Macs” Premiere!
128
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130
Thanks to those who made it possible:
My Parents
Mary T. and Edward J. Monahan
and
The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
With love and gratitude,
Margaret Monahan Hogan, Ph.D.
#17
Immaculata Basketball Team
1960, 1961, 1962, 1963
The Mighty Macs lived a dream for many and still inspire us today.
Congratulations Mighty Macs
From: Henry Sciortino
Jonathan Bigley
Tom Blikle
Bigley and Blikle, LLC • 4075 Linglestown Road, PMB 356 • Harrisburg, PA 17112
131
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135
Basketball doesn’t build character, it reveals it.
— A uthor un k nown
Whoever uttered those wise words could have been
talking about the miracle of Immaculata’s Mighty Macs,
those amazing athletes whose pioneering wins forever
changed the world of women’s college basketball.
P
erhaps best known as the birthplace of modern college women’s basketball, Immaculata won the first
three national women’s college basketball championships contested in the United States in 1972, 1973
and 1974. The Mighty Macs were also the f irst college
women’s basketball team to play (against the University
of Maryland) in a nationally-televised game. Additionally, the Mighty Macs were the f irst women’s basketball
team to compete in Madison Square Garden (against
Queens College).
It should be no surprise that Immaculata won both those
games and so many more. There is a higher power at Immaculata and without question, the belief in God and
the steadfast prayer of the IHM Sisters helped fuel those
legendary teams. Of course, having a six-foot center with
crazy ball skills didn’t hurt either.
Immaculata University now celebrates the 40th anniversary
of that first national championship season—the ultimate
“game changer”—and its profound impact and importance for female student-athletes and coaches.
When I began my career at Palm Beach Community College (now Palm Beach State College), I was fortunate to be
there when Head Women’s Basketball Coach Sally Smith
was guiding the Panthers to victory. Smith was a basketball standout from Tennessee.
MVP and seven-time WNBA All-Star.
So it seems fitting that my life appears to have come full
circle, in a way, by my arrival here at Immaculata, the
small Catholic college—the “Ci nderel la” school—that
has played such a pivotal role in shaping women’s sports
history and is now the subject of a major motion picture
reminiscent of Rudy, Hoosiers and Glory Road.
The Mighty Macs defined an era of college women athletes
and, long after graduation, basketball still drove the passions of many of these legendary players.
The achievements of the Mighty Macs in the face of daunting odds—no budget to speak of, less-than-ideal facilities
in which to practice, only a handful of fans in attendance
to witness that first incredible victory—are inspiring on
so many levels, we owe them a debt of gratitude for showing us how real champions get it done: by being honest
about themselves, who they truly are and by giving it their
all, on and off the court.
A promising young coach once told me that he would be
coaching in some capacity for the rest of his life. He loved
the game that much. Today, my response to such a declaration would be, if your actions spring from a center of
honesty, humility and integrity, then I believe that goal is
possible. After all, it was the credo of the three-time national championship Mighty Macs.
In my role as an assistant coach, I was privileged to work
with Coach Smith and the team through two winning seasons, a squad that boasted Yolanda Griffith—considered
one of the greatest rebounders and defensive players in the
history of women’s basketball.
Truly, basketball doesn’t build character, it reveals it.
Griffith built an illustrious career, winning gold medals
in the Summer 2000 (Sydney, Australia) and 2004 (Athens, Greece) Olympics as well as being named a WNBA
Robert Cole
EDITOR
136
Between
Somewhere
And when it comes to the Mighty Macs, truer words were
never spoken.
Heaven
and the
Hardwood
137
Congratulations
Immaculata
University
from your friends at
Comcast SportsNet and
the Philadelphia 76ers
GO MIGHTY MACS!
w w w.comc a st spor t snet .com
138

1972 · 1973 · 1974 - University Communications – Immaculata

Transcription

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