The University of Mary Washington continued to excel as one of the premier women’s basketball programs in the nation in 2007-08, finishing with a 28-3 overall record and advancing to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. The Eagles achieved another first last winter when they spent the first two months of the season ranked #1 in the nation.
The Eagles opened the season with eight straight wins. UMW won the season-opening Virginia Wesleyan College tournament with a 74-46 win over Ursinus College and a 75-51 win over the host Marlins. All-America center Liz Hickey, all-region forward Ashton Mitchell, and tournament most valuable player Katy Larson showed a flash of things to come by being named to the all-tournament team. The Eagles improved to 3-0 with a 79-64 win at Washington & Lee University.
Head Coach Deena Applebury’s squad then opened Capital Athletic Conference play with a decisive 97-54 win over Salisbury University, as the 2006-07 team was honored with the unveiling of the previous season’s Final Four banner. The Eagles then topped Hood College, 63-18, and York College, 70-50, in conference road games to improve to 6-0. The women closed the fall semester with an 82-61 win at Catholic University before a three week break.
The Eagles played a pair of games in Huntington Beach, Calif., during the holidays, topping Concordia (Wisc.) 71-62 before falling to Wisconsin-Whitewater, 70-67. Showing rust from the layoff, the Eagles trailed by 19 points with six minutes remaining, but a furious comeback saw them tie the score in the final seconds before falling by three. UMW rebounded with nonconference victories over Christopher Newport, 67-52, and Frostburg, 87-40, entering the bulk of the conference schedule.
UMW topped Gallaudet University, 89-43, before beating St. Mary’s College, 77-43. A showdown at nationally ranked Marymount University saw the Eagles post a 68-56 win, and the Eagles then upped their win streak to 12 straight games, including wins over Salisbury, York, and eventual NCAA Tournament team Bridgewater. UMW slipped with a four point loss at St. Mary’s, but rebounded with a 31 point victory over #23 Marymount to move to 21-2 on the year. The team closed the regular season with decisive wins at Wesley and Villa Julie, with Hickey breaking the NCAA Division III career blocked shots record in the win over the Wolverines.
The Eagles breezed through the CAC Tournament, with an 84-34 win over Hood in the quarterfinals, a 71-58 win over York in the semifinals, and a 90-59 win over Marymount in the CAC title game. UMW claimed its third CAC championship in four years, and for the third straight year hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles topped Baruch College, 73-58, in the first round, but that win was marred by the season-ending knee injury to all-region selection Ashton Mitchell, the Eagles’ second-leading scorer. UMW moved to its third straight Sweet 16 with a 56-50 win over The College of New Jersey, but fell to eighth-ranked Tufts University, 48-45, in the regional semifinals.
Seniors Hickey, Lisa Tracy, and Amanda Bates closed their four-year careers with a cumulative 114-15 record, with four NCAA Tournament appearances. Hickey became the first player in program history to achieve All-America status three times, was one of 10 finalists for the Jostens Trophy, and repeated as CAC Player of the Year and Atlantic Region Player of the Year. Mitchell turned in a breakout season by earning all-conference and all-region honors. Applebury, the 2007 WBCA National Coach of the Year, won the CAC Coach of the Year award for the fourth straight season and was named state Coach of the Year from the Virginia Sports Information Directors’ Association.