Immaculata College, a tiny Catholic school in Malvern, was raised from virtual obscurity to national prominence in the early '70s, thanks to the talents and pioneering efforts of a group of young ladies and their exceptional women's basketball coach, Cathy Rush.

From 1972-1974, while the women's game was still emerging from the age of "separate spheres," Rush and her charges left an indelible mark on the women's athletic landscape by capturing three consecutive AIAW national championships.

Although AAU teams had been playing full-court for years, college basketball had only recently shed itself of the archaic "women's rules" which restricted the game to half-court and three dribbles. Most teams still played in skirts.

A national tournament was so novel that few reporters barely knew it was taking place. One Philadelphia sports writer, upon learning that Immaculata had won its first national title, commented: "I didn't even know they had gone full-court." But following the Mighty Macs' third straight title in 1974, an entire nation sat up and took notice.

Headlining the Mighty Macs' rise to national recognition were such stars as Rene Muth Portland, who is currently head women's basketball coach at Penn State University, 1974 National Player of the Year Theresa Shank, and All-American Marianne Crawford, described by one reporter as the best point guard in the Philadelphia area - male or female. And, of course, Cathy Rush.

Immaculata's visionary head coach imported such strategies as the pick-and-roll and pressure defense from the men's game and applied it to her Mighty Macs, who were, needless to say, quick studies. Armed with such revolutionary tactics and outstanding athletes, the Mighty Macs were able to defeat the "big kids" of women's college basketball, who operated with scholarship players and well-funded programs, on a regular basis.

Immaculata also had an unusual following. Reporters were almost as enamored of the Immaculate Heart of Mary nuns as they were of the Mighty Macs themselves. The good sisters, it should be pointed out, were not above some good-natured taunting and ref baiting.

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