TowerFall2021

22 TOWER | FALL 2021 T he introduction of varsity women’s basketball to then-Kutztown State College in the spring of 1971 was a rousing success. Margaret Francis-Rothermel Kantner , the first head coach in program history, led her team to seven consecutive victories in its inaugural season and the Golden Bears won 17 times in 19 tries over their first two seasons. Now after a yearlong delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kutztown University readies to celebrate the program’s 50-year anniversary during the upcoming 2021-22 season. It will highlight the hundreds of student-athletes and coaches who have created countless memories and fostered the growth of the Maroon and Gold into a program modeled on consistency and continually striving for greatness. Over the course of five decades, the Golden Bears have produced more than 600 all-time victories. Nearly two-thirds of those have come under current head coach Janet Malouf , who will enter her 27th season on the KU sideline and is rapidly approaching 400 career wins. Pioneers like Kantner, who also served as the school’s first women’s tennis and women’s volleyball head coach, Cheryl Schick ’72 , the program’s first Kutztown Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, and Chris Shankweiler laid the groundwork for future successes. In the mid-to-late 1970s, SueMerritt ’79 , KU’s first 1,000-point scorer, Linda Kauffman ’78 and Rose Sikorski ’78 took the torch. Kauffman, Merritt and Karen Messner ’77 – all native Berks Countians – led the team to its first-ever double-digit season (10-7) and postseason appearance in the spring of 1977 as the Golden Bears were invited to the EAIAW Small College Mid-Atlantic Regional in Salisbury, Md. The 1980s proved to be a transformational decade for the program. Kutztown moved from NCAA Division III to Division II and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) added sponsorship of women’s basketball, crowning its first league champion. The Golden Bears also gained stability with the hiring of Jocelyn Beck as head coach ahead of the 1980-81 season. The team went through four coaching changes over its first 10 seasons, but Beck remained for the next seven, leading KU to 69 wins during her tenure. New program milestones were realized in the back half of the decade. Following the 1985-86 season, Celeste Ross ’86 became Kutztown’s first All-PSAC selection; at the conclusion of the 1987- 88 season, Patty Gruber was named PSAC Athlete of the Year; and in 1988-89, under the leadership of current KU men’s basket- ball assistant coach Tom York ’84 , the Golden Bears qualified for their first PSAC tournament, advancing to the semifinals. Since 1994-95, Malouf has presided over the program, leading KU to some of its finest moments and mentoring some of its brightest stars. In just her second season, Malouf guided the Golden Bears to a share of their first-ever PSAC East title and the BY MATT HEFFELFINGER ’07, SPORTS INFORMATION DIRECTOR Rylee Derr ’21 is the fourth-leading scorer in program history with 1,382 points.