The 1986-87 University of New Haven women's basketball team – the only Chargers' team to ever win a national championship – was featured in The Beaver County Times (Pa.) this weekend.
 
Lauren Kirschman profiles the 1986-87 club, which featured Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania natives Joy Jeter, Charlene Taylor, Tonya Steals and Head Coach Jan Rossman. The complete article (subscription required) is located at Timesonline.com.
 
The 1986-87 Chargers won their final 28 games en route to the NCAA Division II National Championship, finishing with a record of 29-2. New Haven won its second straight New England Collegiate Conference Championship to reach the national postseason for the second consecutive season, and opened with a 72-64 victory over Stonehill – 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 national semifinal, coming away with a 77-74 win over Northern Kentucky. In the National Championship Game, New Haven was pitted against the two-time defending champ from Cal Poly Pomona. Behind double-double performances from Jeter, Carolyn Bell and Sonja Beamon, the Chargers pulled out a 77-75 victory over the Broncos and became the first-ever National Champions from the University of New Haven.
 
The group was the first team to be inducted into the New Haven Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of its national championship season.
 
A three-time All-America honoree, Jeter racked up program records of 2,299 points, 1,486 rebounds and 246 blocked shots in a career that also included two ECAC Player of the Year awards and an NECC Player of the Year nod. She was the Most Valuable Player of the NCAA Tournament in 1987, which was capped by a 30-point, 15-rebound performance in the National Championship Game. In her senior season of 1988-89, she set program records that still stand to date with 648 points and 429 rebounds. Jeter was the University's Female Athlete of the Year in 1986 and shared the honor with teammate Taylor in 1989. She was inducted into the New Haven Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995.
 
Taylor ran the point for the Chargers' women's basketball team from 1985-89. She ranks second all-time in scoring with 1,853 points, trailing only Jeter. Taylor is also the all-time leader with 603 assists and 419 steals in her career at New Haven. She appears three times in the top-10 for single-season assists, four times on the single-season steals ledger, and her 557 points in 1988-89 are the fourth-most in program annals. In addition to an All-America nod in 1989, Taylor was an ECC Player of the Year and NECC Player of the Year as well as All-New England, All-District and three-time First Team All-NECC. For her role in the Chargers' run to the 1987 National Championship, Taylor was selected to the NCAA All-Tournament Team. She is a member of the New Haven Hall of Fame Class of 1996.

A transfer from Monroe College, Steals played two seasons for the Blue and Gold. She compiled 258 points and 144 rebounds in 53 games from 1986-88. Steals was the first three-point threat for New Haven women's basketball, knocking down 21-of-38 attempts from distance (55.3 percent) in 1987-88 – the inaugural season for the three-point arc in the college game.
 
A 2000 Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, Rossman was the head coach of New Haven women's basketball from 1983-87. She compiled a 78-39 (.667) record for the Chargers, ranking her third all-time in wins, winning percentage and games coached at New Haven. In addition to the 1987 NCAA Division II National Championship, Rossman earned back-to-back New England Collegiate Conference titles and was lauded as the NECC Coach of the Year in each of those campaigns. Also the 1987 WBCA District Coach of the Year, Rossman also coached at Mercy High School in Connecticut, compiling a 48-17 mark in the scholastic ranks prior to taking the reins of the Chargers.