January 29, 2003

MONTCLAIR STATE HONORS 1977-78 AIAW
 FINAL FOUR WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SQUAD

CINDERELLA SQUAD REUNITED FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1988

Montclair State honored the members of its 1977-78 Women's Basketball squad that finished third in the Association for Women National Championship in a ceremony on February 5. The 2003 season marks the 25th year since the Cinderella squad finished third in the AIAW National Championship Tournament. The ceremony marked only the second time the squad has be assembled and the first since November of 1988.

The story of the 1977-78 Montclair State women's basketball team is something out of the movie "Hoosiers". They were from a small school, playing in front of small crowds in a little gymnasium. But this extremely talented and determined group, led by one of the greatest pioneers in women's collegiate basketball, Carol Blazejowski, battled all the way to the bright lights of Los Angeles and the hallowed Pauley Pavilion at UCLA to compete for a national championship.

The 1977-78 Red Hawks finished 25-7, establishing a school record for wins, a record that still stands today. In the days before the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recognized women's athletics, Montclair competed in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) - the equivalent of NCAA Division I today - and made it all the way to the National Championship Tournament or the "Final Four" as it is now more commonly called.

The tournament took place at Pauley Pavilion on the campus of UCLA. Montclair faced UCLA in the national semifinals, led by superstar Ann Meyers, and fell to the Bruins 85-77, despite a Pauley Pavilion record 41 points from Blazejowski.

Despite the loss, Montclair bounced back to defeat Wayland Baptist, 90-88 in the third-place game. The Red Hawks finished third despite the fact that unlike the other Final Four participants, they did not boast a single scholarship player. To this day, Montclair State is the only non-scholarship team to reach the women's college basketball "Final Four".

Blazejowski, now the Vice President and General Manager of the WNBA's New York Liberty, was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994. Pat Colasurdo and Jill Jeffrey (a former Montclair head coach) are 1,000-point scorers while current NJCU head coach Alice DeFazio, a defensive stalwart, held the career records for assists and steals. All four have been inducted into the Montclair State Athletic Hall of Fame along with their coach Maureen Wendelken.