Ticha Penicheiro

[FridaFriend]

Ticha Penicheiro of Old Dominion and Ruth Riley of Notre Dame are finalists for the Hall of Fame this year, as reported by ESPN. Ticha (Portugal) and her international teammates, Clarisse Machanguana (Mozambique) and Mery Andrade (Portugal) led Old Dominion in the NCAA tournament final in 1997 against a 10 loss Tennessee team. The game was just mentioned in another thread: 'Holly Breaking the Wrong Records'. I just watched the game again and both teams played great. The officials let them play and the game was very physical. Tennessee took an early lead, but Penicheiro and Machanguana led a Old Dominion comeback to take the lead in the second half. Chamique Holdsclaw and Kelly Jolly finally took over the game. In the meantime, there were several unique plays including: a shot by Holdsclaw after the shot clock buzzer that was counted, a technical on the Old Dominion coach that the referees changed to a timeout, Kyra Elzy's windmill defense, and a half-court shot-put style shot just before halftime. There were lots of forced turnovers and great passes. Kelly Jolly had 11 assists.

I also noticed that Clarisse Machanguana, after a WNBA career, started a wonderful foundation supporting health and education in her native Mozambique.

 

[Plebe]

Was Penicheiro the first “international” superstar in WCBB? I’m trying to think of any who came before her...

 

[bballnut90]

Was Penicheiro the first “international” superstar in WCBB? I’m trying to think of any who came before her...

Her teammate Clarisse Machanguana of Mozambique was a superstar at ODU as well in the same time frame.

 

[triaddukefan]

I loved that 1997 ODU team. Fun team to watch. I desperately wanted them to win the 1997 title...