The coming season, the 1983-84 basketball campaign, is The Season at Mary Washington College. After just missing the national tournament with 20-6 and 17-6 records in 1982 and 1983, "This year we have a real chance to make it to the NCAA Division III national championship tournament," MWC Coach Connie Gallahan said. "We have all the components--a schedule tough enough to prove that we are worthy and a lot of talented, experienced players."
In 1982-83, Coach Gallahan's six "starters" led the Blue Tide team through a season "any coach would be pleased with," according to that coach. The 17-6 season was highlighted by first time wins over eight opponents, including NCAA tournament participant Frostburg State College and Division II Liberty Baptist College, and was capped by a second place finish in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Region Tournament. Five of those six starters return for another season, all as experienced juniors and seniors.
Trish Long, a 5-9 senior forward, leads the front line threesome which, in 1983-84, will have started together for three consecutive seasons. With a 13.1 career scoring average, Long has accumulated 902 points in three seasons, not to mention 730 rebounds. Both totals are all time highs at MWC. Melanie Taylor joins Long on the forward line. The 5-11 senior has followed Long in scoring and rebounding for two seasons and has compiled a 10.7 career scoring average. She holds the game high scoring record of 31 points. Ruth Bonner, a 6-1 junior center, completes the front line for the third consecutive season. Bonner is a rebounding specialist. She finished her sophomore season as the Division 1IInation's 20th ranked rebounder with a 13.0 per game average.
We had a season to be very proud of in 1983," Gallahan explained. "But I hope 1984 begins a new tradition with a trip to the national tournament. Our strengths last year were defense (which allowed opponents a 37 percent field goal completion rate and "won us more games than anything else"), rebounding (which outdistanced opponents by a nine rebound margin), our bench and depth strength, and balanced inside and outside scoring. And I don't see that anything will be missing in 1984. Combined with the experience of our 1983 season which saw us improve in concentration and consistency, 1984 could be Our Year."