immaculata women's basketball 1972 roster

They left and then added to the game and that to me is an incredible legacy for them.". Yet despite those and many other hardships, the 23-year-old Rush coached her team to a spot in the first-ever women's national college tournament in 1972. The 1972 AIAW women's basketball tournament was held on March 1619, 1972. Discover more about the championship Mighty Macs by visiting https://www.immaculata.edu/about/history/championship-mighty-macs/. "It would have been huge for us.". (In 1982, both the AIAW and NCAA sponsored competing tournaments.) 1972-bracket 1972 Tournament AIAW National Tournament Consolation Winner: Queens College Consolation Runner-up: California State-Long Beach 16 teams California State-Fullerton California State-Long Beach* Illinois State Immaculata Indiana (or Indiana State?) OR call toll-free: Thats Normal, in Illinois, home of Illinois State University, site of the 1972 national basketball championships. The 1975 and 1976 teams also reached the finals, losing to Delta State University in Mississippi both years. The Mighty Macs, as a 15th-seed,. Grentz went on to coach basketball at Saint Josephs University, Rutgers University, Illinois University, and Lafayette. But by the time the NCAA assumed control of the women's national tournament in 1982, Immaculata had won its second and third championships, and it had, in 1975, played Queens College at Madison . The team won two additional titles in 1973 and 1974. The underdog team, led by Hall of Fame coach Cathy Rush, went on to win national championships in 1973 and 1974, a story retold in the 2011 film The Mighty Macs. As a small private liberal arts college, Immaculata did not have a recruiting budget or athletic scholarships, and its starters carpooled to campus for morning practices. Her stint at the small Catholic school for women lasted only seven seasons, but her footprint on the game of women's basketball is still evident today. Now, 40 years after its incredible run started, Immaculata's story has been made into a movie ("The Mighty Macs") that will open nationally Friday. The Mighty Macs' rise to national champions was a true David-versus-Goliath story. "They elevated women's sports to a whole new level.". The AIAW was formed in 1972 and ran through 1982, when the first NCAA Tournament was held for women's basketball. To honor the 50th anniversary of the first victory, Immaculata is recognizing members of all three national championship teams during a campus celebration on Friday, March 18, from 12 to 3 p.m. Follow Backgrounders on Twitter They won their first three games, then defeated archrival West Chester for the national championships. "I was 25 at the time and thought they were so wrong, but they were so right," she said. Sixteen teams participated. On Sunday, March 19, 1972, Immaculata University's women's basketball team etched its name into sports history as the first women's college basketball national champions. Follow The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia on Instagram A Century of Philadelphia Sports. ); The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy. The all-girls Catholic school just outside of Philadelphia had virtually no money. 1 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+). Immaculata's 1972 team won the first-ever national women s college basketball championship title, the first of three consecutive championships for the university and the Mighty Macs. The following season the Mighty Macs went undefeated. The story of the 1972 Immaculata Universitys womens basketball season is embedded in the history of college sports. We didn't have any of that.". Sixteen teams participated. The sport's governing body back then was the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), and there were no divisions. Jan 25 (Thu) W, 72-24. [1] [2] [3] [4] [1][2] The winners of the AIAW tournaments from 1972 to 1981 are recognized as the national champions for those years. [1] [2] The winners of the AIAW tournaments from 1972 to 1981 are recognized as the national champions for those years. Their Cinderella story was made into a Hollywood movie, The Mighty Macs. Other players became doctors, teachers, philanthropists, or businesswomen. It didn't even have a home court to practice on after the gym burned down before Rush's first year in 1971. Stay tuned for live updates to follow. Immaculata shocked the world of college sports, and the rest is history!. They won two additional titles in 1973 and 1974. Forty years ago this month, the women's basketball team of Immaculata College, as it was known then, won the first women's national basketball championship and won it again in 1973 and 1974. Yet despite those and many other hardships, the 23-year-old Rush coached her team to a spot in the first-ever women's national college tournament in 1972. Members of Immaculata Universitys three national championship womens basketball teams reunited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their first national title, won on Sunday, March 19, 1972. Another Mighty Macs championship-winning player, Marianne Crawford Stanley, also went on to coach NCAA womens basketball and professional basketball for the Womens National Basketball Association. Stanley was inducted into the Womens Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. Immaculata shocked the world of college sports, and the rest is history!. Like The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia on Facebook, Follow The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia on Instagram, Like The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia on Facebook, Philadelphia, the Place that Loves You Back, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, The Mighty Macs (Trailer via Youtube, April 3, 2014), Mighty Macs Naismith Hall of Fame/ Macs Memories (Immaculata.edu), Cathy Rush gets call from the Hall archived story (Gomightymacs.com). : Copyright 2023 American Community Journals, LLC |, Discover more about the championship Mighty Macs. Canterino also played for Immaculata from 1989-92 and makes sure that the current athletes are aware of the team's storied past. Karen Guentheris Professor of History at Mansfield University and author of Sports in Pennsylvania (2007), published by the Pennsylvania Historical Association. The adventures of the first championship team were loosely portrayed in the award-winning feature film The Mighty Macs (2009). 1000 Hall of Fame AvenueSpringfield, Massachusetts 01105. Rush rattled off a Who's Who of college coaches who have worked at her camp, including Auriemma. The Mighty Macs finished the season 24-1. The official box score of Basketball vs Immaculata on 11/15/2022 Immaculata University, coached by Hall-of-Famer Cathy Rush, was crowned national champion at the conclusion of the tournament. The Mighty Macs continued their dominance, reaching the Final Four in the following three seasons, placing second in 1975 and 1976 and fourth in 1977. "They still come to the game and sit in that same section right by the door as you come in.". "We still have such great support of the women's basketball program from the sisters," Canterino said. DVD distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2012. During March 14-20, the entire campus community will celebrate the Mighty Macs with various events and displays depicting the teams achievements. Copyright 2023 Immaculata University | 1145 King Road, Immaculata, PA 19345, Immaculata University is a Catholic, comprehensive, coeducational institution founded by the Sisters, Servants, and Immaculate Heart of Mary. Find out what an IU education can do for your mind, your character and your future. Even at less than full strength, Immaculata won the title, upsetting West Chester -- which had beaten the Mighty Macs by 32 points a week earlier. The third season saw Immaculata extend her winning streak to 35 games, and with a 68-53 win over Mississippi College, the Macs claimed their third national championship. Grounded in IHM tradition and charism since 1920. In 2014, the Mighty Macs were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Immaculata entered the tournament as the second-place team from the east behind West Chester State after losing to the Golden Rams 70-38 in the regional final. The 1972 victory is now a landmark moment in the history of college sports: the Mighty Macs were an underdog team from a small womens college in suburban Philadelphia with a gym that burned to the ground years before. Boxscore Women's Basketball at Trine University March 4, 2022 7:00 P.M. Women's Basketball // W 70 - 57. The women had to sell toothbrushes to fund their trip to Illinois for the first womens national collegiate championship tournament. ofGreaterPhiladelphia. Copyright 2023 American Community Journals, LLC |, Discover more about the championship Mighty Macs. This story is from ESPN.com's automated news wire. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. I was a senior at Immaculata in 1972 and winning the championship that year is something I will never forget. To raise money, players sold toothbrushes. SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Swarthmore College women's lacrosse team remained perfect on the season with a lopsided victory over Immaculata University, 19-3, on Wednesday night. The success of the Mighty Macs built upon a tradition of basketball at Immaculata that began in 1939 and drew skilled Philadelphia area female basketball players to its all-womens campus. OR call toll-free: Katie Hayek, who stars in the movie portraying a character based on Immaculata star Theresa Shank Grentz, admitted with a sheepish smile that she didn't know much about the story before taking the role. 1952) coached Rutgers to the 1981 AIAW national championship, and Rene (Muth) Portland (1953-2018) coached for twenty-seven seasons at Penn State University. "I think of colleges today that don't draw 3,000-4,000 to their games," she said. "They won against the odds, and that is what we are celebrating here today," said Sen. Andrew Dinniman (D., Chester), sponsor of a Senate proclamation recognizing the team's achievements. (Author information current at time of publication.). IMMACULATA, PA. 19345, Phone1-610-647-4400 In the spring of 1972, still a few months before the passage of Title IX, Immaculata College won the first of three consecutive Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women national championships. The host site was Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. The Mighty Macs continued their dominance, reaching the Final Four in the following three seasons, placing second in 1975 and 1976 and fourth in 1977. In the early 1970s, the Mighty Macs of Immaculata College ushered in the modern era of womens athletics. (Randall S. Shantz covered Immaculata basketball for the Daily Local News in West Chester and, like the Macs, made friends everywhere the team went, particularly in Cleveland, Mississippi.). Immaculata couldn't afford to send everyone -- despite fundraising with toothbrush sales and raffles, so three players were left behind. The Immaculata College womens basketball teams of the early 1970s, known as the Mighty Macs, won the first three national tournaments of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) in 1972, 1973, and 1974. Before we send you to , pleasesubscribe to our daily newsletter. We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here. The AIAW women's basketball tournament was a national tournament for women's collegiate basketball teams in the United States, held annually from 1972 to 1982. [7] Beginning in 1975, the AIAW divided its teams into divisions, and held separate tournaments for Division II and Division III teams. 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immaculata women's basketball 1972 roster