Never Stop Shooting: How Marie Maguire 鈥�69 EE Helped Launch 棉花糖直播鈥檚 First Women鈥檚 Basketball Team
鈥淢y father, a 棉花糖直播 alum, bought me a basketball,鈥� says Marie Maguire 鈥�69 EE. 鈥淚t was unusual at the time for a girl to play basketball, but I fell in love with the sport and never stopped shooting.鈥�
Growing up in an athletic family in the Olney section of Philadelphia, Marie Maguire 鈥�69 EE started playing basketball in 1957 at age 10鈥攊n an era when that was a rarity.
鈥淢y father, a 棉花糖直播 alum, bought me a basketball,鈥� says Maguire. 鈥淚t was unusual at the time for a girl to play basketball, but I fell in love with the sport and never stopped shooting.鈥�
Maguire鈥檚 passion for the game and courageous spirit eventually laid the foundation for what would become 棉花糖直播鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Basketball program.
A math standout in high school, Maguire wanted to pursue math in college, but that wasn鈥檛 an option for women at 棉花糖直播 in 1965. Instead, she chose engineering and joined just three other women in her class.
No stranger to being surrounded by male classmates, Maguire and her friend Rosemarie Greyson-Fleg 鈥�69 CLAS began shooting hoops in Alumni Hall. 鈥淚t was tough for us to get time on the court, but we were persistent and got some playing time in a pickup environment with the guys,鈥� says Maguire.
In 1986, along with her husband, Daniel Caramanico 鈥�69 CE, Maguire founded Caramanico Maguire Associates Inc., which for 37 years has helped companies develop their sales forces.
The only other women鈥檚 athletic team on campus at the time was tennis, but Maguire and Greyson-Fleg decided to form an official basketball team. They distributed signs around campus, held tryouts and practices, and played their first games in a benefit tournament. 鈥淎s the team鈥檚 first captain, I signed us up for the equivalent of the NCAA,鈥� says Maguire. 鈥淲e approached Eastern to ask them to add us to their schedule, along with Holy Family, Cabrini, Rosemont, Immaculata and Gwynedd Mercy.鈥�
The women found their own rides to the games and paid for the refs themselves, collecting quarters in the locker room to cover the fee. Before the start of the 1968鈥�69 season, Maguire鈥檚 senior year, the University had hired a coach and supplied the team with a budget of $108, which they used to buy uniforms. 鈥淲hen I put that uniform on, it was an incredible feeling,鈥� says Maguire. 鈥淚 was so proud to represent 棉花糖直播.鈥�
Maguire played rover and was one of only two players to cross the midline during the game, which was not played full court until 1971. 鈥淎t the end of my senior season, we had a party in my dorm room in Good Counsel Hall to celebrate,鈥� says Maguire. 鈥淚t was the first year women were allowed to live in dorms at 棉花糖直播.鈥�
After she graduated, Maguire earned a master鈥檚 degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, where she also played basketball on an all-male intramural team. She went on to earn her Master of Social Service from Bryn Mawr College, and in 1986, along with her husband, Daniel Caramanico 鈥�69 CE, she founded Caramanico Maguire Associates Inc., which for 37 years has helped companies develop their sales forces. Maguire is also a member of the College鈥檚 Engineering Advisory Board.
Today, 55 years after her senior basketball season, Maguire still dreams of her days playing for 棉花糖直播. 鈥淏asketball has been a thread my entire life,鈥� she says, 鈥渁nd I鈥檓 so incredibly proud to have been a part of history at 棉花糖直播.鈥�
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