NEW ORLEANS, La. – The late Carol Eckman will be among a number of pioneers and trailblazers within women’s college basketball that will be honored at halftime of tonight’s NCAA Division I Championship Game between Connecticut and Louisville in the Superdome.
Eckman, who is considered the mother of women’s college basketball, coached West Chester University from 1967 to 1972. She helped organize the first college women’s basketball championship tournament in 1969 and then led the Golden Rams to the national championship game in each of the next three years. She guided West Chester to the championship game of the first Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women national tournament in 1972. Eckman authored a 68-5 record in her five seasons along West Chester’s sideline.
Each year, the Carol Eckman Award is given to an active WBCA coach, who best demonstrates the character of the late Carol Eckman. Eckman moved on to coach Lock Haven University from 1973-79, posting a record of 46-40 with the Lady Eagles. She passed away in 1985 to cancer.
"Before there was the AIAW, there was Carol Eckman," West Chester University head coach Deirdre Kane. "Carol created the postseason for women's basketball. She organized the National Women's Invitational Tournament in 1969."
Among the other honorees at tonight’s championship game are administrators who took the game to new heights under the auspices of the AIAW, which governed women’s collegiate sports before the NCAA began sponsoring championships in 1981-82.
Anucha Browne, NCAA vice president of women’s basketball championships, believes the names of the honorees will resonate with people familiar with the sport. Browne also said a city like New Orleans, which is known for its celebratory nature, is the appropriate place to commemorate their accomplishments.
“This is the perfect time to celebrate the players, coaches and administrators from the AIAW who helped establish the foundation for collegiate women’s basketball,” Browne said. “Their achievements at that time were remarkable and opened the door to what we have to today, with the Women’s Final Four growing into the marquee women’s sporting event in America.”
Honorees to be recognized at the Women’s Final Four
PLAYERS
Carol Blazejowski (Montclair State) – Led the nation in scoring at 33.5 points per game in 1976-77 and 38.6 points in 1977-78.
Debbie Brock (Delta State) – Starting point guard for Delta State teams that won AIAW national titles in 1975, 1976 and 1977.
Denise Curry (UCLA) – Set 14 school records, including being the Bruins’ career leading scorer (3,198) and rebounder (1,310).
Ann Meyers Drysdale (UCLA) – First female to receive a basketball athletics scholarship at UCLA and recorded the first quadruple-double in Division I basketball with 20 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals during a game in her senior season of 1977-78.
Suzie Snider Eppers (Baylor) – Holds the school record for points 3,861 and rebounds 2,176.
Pamela Kelly-Flowers (Louisiana Tech) – Led the program to two AIAW national titles and was the Wade Trophy (national player of the year) recipient in 1982.
Lusia Harris (Delta State) – Averaged 25.9 points and 14.5 rebounds per game while leading Delta State to three straight AIAW national titles (1975-77).
Nancy Lieberman (Old Dominion) – First two-time winner of the Wade Trophy, finishing her career with 2,430 points, 1,167 rebounds, 961 assists and 562 steals.
Pearl Moore (Francis Marion) – Scored 4,061 points in her career and had a 60-point game during her junior season.
Lynette Woodard (Kansas) – Scored 3,649 career points and went on to become the first female member of the Harlem Globetrotters.
PLAYERS/HEAD COACHES
Theresa Shank Grentz – Won AIAW national titles as a player at Immaculata and as a coach at Rutgers; sported a career coaching record of 671-309.
Marianne Crawford Stanley – First person to win AIAW national titles as a player at Immaculata and as a coach at Old Dominion; recruited Nancy Lieberman and Ann Donovan to Old Dominion and Lisa Leslie to Southern California.
HEAD COACHES
Carol Eckman – Considered the “mother of collegiate women’s basketball” for establishing the first women’s national championship in 1969; coached West Chester University (Pa.) from 1969-72.
Lily Margaret Wade – The namesake of the Wade Trophy guided Delta State to three straight national titles (1975-77).
Sonja Hogg – Coached Louisiana Tech to a 34-0 record en route to the 1981 AIAW championship; also coached the Lady Techsters to the first NCAA championship in 1982.
Billie Moore – First women’s coach to win national titles at two schools (Cal State Fullerton in 1970 and UCLA in 1978).
Cathy Rush – Won three consecutive AIAW titles (1972-74) and was 149-15 as Immaculata’s coach.
ADMINISTRATORS
Christine Grant – Founding member of the AIAW; Iowa’s first women’s athletics director in 1973; testified before Congress several times on behalf of gender equity.
Judie Holland – Selected to start UCLA’s women’s athletics program after the passage of Title IX; developed women’s athletics at UCLA into a multi-million dollar enterprise.
Donna Lopiano – Past president of the AIAW who as women’s AD at Texas grew the budget there from $57,000 in 1975 to nearly $3 million by 1987.
Judy Sweet – In 1975 became the first female athletics director to lead a combined men’s and women’s athletics department at UC San Diego; first female to serve as president of the NCAA (1991-93).
Charlotte West – Former president of AIAW who worked 42 years at Southern Illinois as a coach, instructor, professor and administrator; consultant for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare during the 1970s after Title IX.
