We continue our countdown this week at number nine with the 2001-02 women’s basketball squad. An exciting and high-scoring team, the lady Quakers created a school-record with 25 wins on their way to a 25-4 overall record and 18-2 record in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC).

The 2002 team notched the second in a three-season streak of 20 or more wins and also took home their second straight ODAC title on the way to their second straight appearance in the second round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament.

The winning season came at the peak of coach Barb Bausch’s memorable career. Bausch can be given a great deal of credit for the team’s success that year, as the above-mentioned winning streaks were a testament to the program she created and the winning pattern she established.

That their success came through a total team effort, rather than the work of one or two players alone, becomes apparent after looking at the statistical breakdown. The team started more than 10 players that year and boasted five different players leading statistical categories like field goal percentage, three-point percentage, steals, rebounds, and blocked shots.

Among those category leaders were stars Erin Beacham ’02 and Courtney Hill ’05. Beacham, who led the team in scoring and assists, earned first-team All-ODAC honors and was awarded the Most Outstanding Player award for the ODAC Tournament. Meanwhile, Hill led the team in rebounds per game, shooting percentage, and earned the ODAC Rookie of the Year award.

After downing 13 straight ODAC opponents, the team finished their regular season with a tough loss to Emory and Henry College. But they did not let it hurt their momentum. Following the loss, the lady Quakers tallied three wins in the ODAC tournament, capturing the title with an 18-point victory over Bridgewater.

Then, after defeating Methodist in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the team suffered a heart breaking, one-point defeat to Hardin-Simmons in Abilene, Texas

Although the final loss was difficult to bear, the team’s 25 wins remains the highest in school history and no team has since made it to the NCAA tournament.

So there you have it. In the middle of a record-breaking streak of winning seasons for women’s basketball and at the peak of the career for one of the program’s greatest coaches, the 2001-02 lady Quakers find their home in the history books and at number nine on our countdown of Guilford’s greatest sports teams.