Wentworth Institute of Technology: Athletics > Varsity Sports

The first varsity program for women, the Wentworth women's basketball team made its debut during the 1985-86 season and has had its ups and downs along the way. The formative years of the program would see six head coaches in a 10-year span and the team would crack the 10-win plateau just one time during that timeframe.

During the late 1990s, the Leopards were a more competitive program, winning 10 or more games three times during a four-year stretch and qualified for the conference tournament twice during that period. The 1996-97 squad was the first team to post a winning record, finishing 13-11.

A three-year rebuilding stretch in the early part of the 21st century resulted in five consecutive seasons (2003-08) with 10 or more wins, inclduing setting a new school record for wins in a season with a 14-11 mark during the 2005-06 season.

Coming off an 11-win season in 2007-08, the Leopards began the season with much promise, having lost just two players to graduation. However, injuries and a couple of players not returning to the team left a thin roster. Wentworth began the season with a six-point win over Clarkson at the Wheaton Tip-Off Tournament. However, that would be the last win the Leopards would see until a six-point triumph at Mount Ida seven games later. Over semester break Wentworth traveled to the Bahamas for a pair of games against Babson - a team that would participate in the 2009 NCAA Tournament - and Gettysburg. Wentworth dropped both games, which were close until the final few minutes. Wentworth would begin conference play with back-to-back wins over Gordon and Eastern Nazarene, but would then drop seven in a row, with two of those losses coming by less than 10 points. A win over Anna Maria on Feb. 7 would prove to be the last win of the season as the Leopards would drop the final four games of the season to finish with a 5-20 record.

Sophomore Kirsten Vallone earned post-season honors from The Commonwealth Coast Conference, as she was an honorable mention all-conference selection. Vallone averaged a double-double - 15.1 points and 11.1 rebounds per game - to go along with aveaging 1.9 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. Junior Jessie Coffey (Wakefield, R.I.) averaged 11.1 points per game, while classmate Michelle Fauci (Boxford, Mass.) averaged 8.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 2.4 steals per game. As a team the Leopards were the co-recipients of TCCC Team Sportsmanship Award.

The Leopards graduate just one player from the 2008-09 squad - senior Margo Ward (Mystic, Conn.) who averaged 8.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and was the recipient of the department's Eugenia Louise Sweeney Senior Scholar-Athlete Award. With six letterwinners returning and a strong recruiting class, the Leopards should be poised to make a run at the post-season.

Distinguished Players

Since the 1985-86 season, eight members of the program have scored 1,000 or more points, with Rebecca Morris’ 1,811 points leading the parade. She was also the first player to score 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds during her career, something Brandy Trice and Cheyenne Noble—the school’s all-time leading rebounder—have also accomplished. Morris was named the CCC Rookie of the Year in 1994 and the CCC Player of the Year in 1996. Brandy Trice earned CCC Rookie of the Year honors in 1998, while Lindsay Kist earned the CCC Senior Scholar-Athlete Award at the conclusion of the 2000 season. Noble would take home the league’s rookie of the year award in 2004 and was named the league’s top player in 2006. Former Leopard standouts Jennifer Robbins ’88 and Kim McCabe ’95 were charter members of Wentworth’s Athletic Hall of Fame, while Morris was inducted in 2002. Irene McSweeney, the founder of the program, was inducted in 2004 and Kist a year later. In 2007, Michelle (Young) Vega ’94 became the fifth women’s basketball player to enter the Hall.

Schedule

Wentworth plays a 25-game schedule, including 13 conference games against such schools as Colby-Sawyer, Curry, Salve Regina, Endicott, and Nichols. The non-league schedule consists of games against such schools as Emerson, Mount Ida, Wellesley, and Suffolk. During the 2002-03 season, the Leopards traveled to the Rhodes College Tournament (Memphis, Tenn.). During the 1999-2000 season, the Leopards played in the Scotty Wood Tournament at Muhlenberg College and the 1998-99 Leopards played two games in Atlanta to begin the season. The 2006-07 Leopards traveled to the HoopNSurf Tournament in Honolulu, shortly before Christmas break. During the 2008-09 season, Wentworth participated in the Bahamas Sunshine Shootout the week before Christmas.

Meet the Coaching Staff

Amanda Rodgerson (University of New England '02) enters her third season as the Wentworth women's basketball coach. She joins the Leopard staff after posting a 44-30 record in her three seasons as the Assistant Athletic Director/Head Women's Basketball Coach at Southern Maine Community College. While at SMCC, her team won a pair of Maine Small College Conference Championships, as well as winning the Yankee Small College Conference title in 2006. A former standout at the University of New England, Rodgerson was the Commonwealth Coast Conference Player of the Year in 2002. She is assisted by Matt Phippard (Arizona State '97), Brittany Rheault (Worcester State '07), and Julia Knights (Maine Maritime '06)