Cathy Rush

Cathy Rush (born Cathy Cowan; April 7, 1947) is a former basketball coach at Immaculata from 1972 to 1977. She led Immaculata to three consecutive AIAW national titles from 1972–1974. She led the Mighty Macs to six consecutive final four appearances in her six seasons with the school, attaining a 149–15 record. Rush was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on April 7, 2008. She had also been inducted to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.

A resident of Ventnor City, New Jersey, Rush grew up in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey and graduated from Oakcrest High School in 1964. She received a Bachelor of Science in 1968 and a master's degree in education in 1972, both from West Chester University. She has two children with her ex-husband, former National Basketball Association referee and Supervisor of Officials Ed T. Rush.

The Mighty Macs, a movie about the season leading to the winning of the first women's national basketball championship in 1972, was released in October 2011. Rush is played by Carla Gugino.

Early life Rush was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey on April 7, 1947, to John and Alice Cowan. She grew up in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey,

Marriage Ed T. Rush also attended West Chester University, but graduated in 1964,

Immaculata While Rush was at General Wayne Junior High, the coaching opportunity became available at Immaculata, an all-girls Catholic school with an enrollment of 400 students.

Practices were informal—Rush brought her two young boys, still toddlers, to practice. They were one of six teams to lose a game in the regionals, and earn a spot in the first ever AIAW women's basketball tournament. When the Immaculata parents, following their tradition, brought their buckets to the game to act as noisemakers, they were met by a court order. Delta State had managed to convince a judge to issue a legal writ to bar noisemakers from the game. Delta State went on to win the game 90–81, to win the first of three consecutive championships.

Immaculata made it all the way to the title game in 1976, but again faced Delta State and again Delta State prevailed, this time 69–64. In 1977 Immaculata played in the consolation game for third place and lost to Tennessee 91–71. Although finishing fourth in the nation was a significant accomplishment, the impact of Title IX was allowing many schools to offer scholarships to the best players. Rush decided to retire to raise her family, and left active coaching with a record of 149-15 for a winning percentage of 91%.

Notable Firsts

First nationally televised game The first nationally televised game is played by Maryland and Immaculata on January 27, 1975. Some sources report that Immaculata won 80–48,

First women's college team to play outside the US Immaculata traveled to Australia in July 1974, playing 18 games over the course of the month-long trip, the first United States college team to play a game outside the United States. Rush said, "All of a sudden girls who would have been coming to Immaculata were going elsewhere...We didn't have a chance with those players." Coached and directed the 1975 U.S. Women's basketball team at the Pan American games, leading the team to a gold medal finish. Member of the U.S. Olympic Committee of Women's basketball. Received Special Achievement Awards from both the New Jersey and Philadelphia Sports Writers' Association. 1976—Rush co-authored (with Lawrie Mifflin) a book Women's Basketball on basketball techniques.

https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/07/sports/a-small-college-link-to-women-s-game.html