Immaculata teams will join Basketball Hall

NASHVILLE - Six years after former Immaculata coach Cathy Rush was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the three Mighty Macs teams she guided to AIAW national titles from 1972-74 are joining her.

The Mighty Macs will enter the Hall in Springfield, Mass., with the other Class of 2014 honorees on the weekend of Aug. 7-9, according to several sources.

The official announcement of this year's class will be made Monday at the NCAA men's championship game in Arlington, Texas.

Former Immaculata player Judy Marra Martelli will represent the team at a news conference in Arlington, where her husband, St. Joseph's men's coach Phil Martelli, is also in town for the men's title game.

"They deserve to get inducted," Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma, a Hall of Famer, said of the Mighty Macs.

Immaculata went 60-2 in the three-year championship era. Among the other Philadelphia women who have joined the Hall of Fame are South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, inducted last year, and Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer.

Collingswood native Gary Williams, who coached Maryland's men, also will be inducted into the Hall this summer, according to the Washington Post.

The Mighty Macs

Players from Immaculata's championship teams:

Denise Conway Crawford - 1972-74

Marianne Crawford Stanley - 1973-74

Barbara Deuble Kelly - 1974

Sue Forsyth O'Grady - 1972

Betty Ann Hoffman Quinn - 1972-73

Nancy Johnston - 1973

Tina Krah - 1974

Marie Liguori Williams - 1974

Judy Marra Martelli - 1972-74

Maureen Mooney (deceased) - 1972-73

Patricia Mulhern Loughran - 1974

Rene Muth Portland - 1972-74

Patricia Opila Penater (deceased) - 1972

Janet Ruch Boltz - 1972-73

Mary Scharff - 1974

Ann Sadowski - 1973

Theresa Shank Grentz - 1972-74

Maureen Stuhlman - 1972-73

Janet Young Eline - 1972-74