PHOTO GALLERYBy winning the NCAA Division II National Championship, the 1986-87 women’s basketball team accomplished something no other team has ever been able to achieve at the University of New Haven. The team will always be remembered as the first national champions of Charger Athletics.
The 1986-87 Chargers opened the season with two tough losses in their first three games, but the season quickly turned around for UNH. The Chargers hit a winning streak which included multiple 100-point performances and 14-straight New England Collegiate Conference victories. On January 28th, 1987 the team defeated Sacred Heart by an amazing 68 points, 113-to-45. The Chargers defeated Sacred Heart again in the opening round of the New England Collegiate Conference tournament and two games later, the Chargers claimed their second-straight conference championship with a 78-75 victory over New Hampshire College on February 28.
The postseason continued for the Chargers who earned the program’s second-straight NCAA Division II tournament appearance in 1987. New Haven opened with a 72-64 victory over Stonehill and earned the program’s first-ever NCAA tournament victory. New Haven followed with a 65-63 victory over Hampton to advance to the final four in Springfield, Mass. The Chargers needed overtime in the final four, but pulled off a three-point, 77-74, victory over Northern Kentucky on March 19 to advance to the national championship game. UNH would face national power and two-time defending NCAA Division II National Champions Cal-Poly Pomona in the championship game. Behind three stellar double-double performances from Joy Jeter, Carolyn Bell and Sonja Beamon, the Chargers came out with a two-point, 77-75, victory over the Broncos and became the first-ever National Champions at the University of New Haven.
Under the guidance of four-year head coach Jan Rossman, the 1986-87 team re-wrote the UNH women’s basketball record books. The Chargers recorded a program-best 28-consecutive wins on their way to the national championship. The team won more games than any UNH women’s basketball team prior and still ranks as one of the winningest in program history. New Haven boasted an all-time best .932 winning percentage and averaged over 85-points per game. Rossman was named the NECC Coach of the Year and the WBCA District Coach of the Year. Two players earned NCAA Division II All-Tournament Team honors at the national championship, Joy Jeter and Charlene Taylor. Jeter was also recognized as an All-American, the ECAC Player of the Year and the NECC Player of the Year.
With six individuals already in the UNH Athletics Hall of Fame, 2012 marks the celebration of the team – 25 years after its remarkable run to the national championship.
