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Back Row (L-R): Tanya West, Kacy O’Brien, Francine McCurtain, LaShay Rose, Shanae Baker-Brice, Alis Freeman, Jamell Beasley Front Row (L-R): Katarina Stimac, Erin Gaston, Kelly Robinson, Kim Pyne, Tina Hopkins, Tierra Jackson 2005-06 Roster No. Name Pos. Cl. Hgt. Hometown/High School 3 Shanae Baker-Brice G Fr. 5-6 Washington, D.C./Theodore Roosevelt H.S. 15 Jamell Beasley G Jr. 5-9 Pottstown, Pa./Pottstown H.S. 10 Alis Freeman * G So. 5-7 Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill H.S. 50 Erin Gaston ** C Jr.. 6-1 Centreville, Va./Annandale H.S. 30 Tina Hopkins *** F Sr. 6-0 Rockville, Md./Richard Montgomery H.S. 23 Tierra Jackson * F Sr. 6-1 Upper Marlboro, Md./Frederick Douglass H.S. 32 Fran McCurtain G Jr. 5-9 Chinle, Ariz./Winsloe H.S. 11 Kacy O’Brien * G Sr. 5-11 Pittsburgh, Pa./Carlynton H.S. 55 Kim Pyne C Jr. 6-4 Columbia, Md./Howard H.S. 33 Kelly Robinson ** F Jr. 6-1 Hazlet, N.J./Raritan H.S. 1 LaShay Rose *** G Sr. 5-5 Dahlgren, Va./King George H.S. 13 Katarina Stimac ** F Jr. 6-1 Zagreb, Croatia/Sportska H.S. 21 Tanya West *** G Sr. 5-7 Ramstein, Germany/Ramstein American H.S. * Letter Winners Assistant Coach Derek Jordan Assistant Coach Stephanie Cross Head Coach Joe Mathews Assistant Coach Stacy Alexander CoachingCoaching StaffStaff Coaching Staff Head Coach Joe Mathews and his assistants Stacy Alexander, Stephanie Cross, and Derek Jordan have translated their winning ways into success for the Tigers HeadHead CoachCoach JoeJoe MathewsMathews LayingLaying aa FoundationFoundation forfor SuccessSuccess 4 Coaching Staff With 13 years of experience as part of In his first season as the Tigers’ head coach, winning programs, fourth year coach Joe Towson posted a 2-26 record and finished Mathews is anxious to share some of his tenth in the Colonial Athletic Association. winning experience at Towson. Coach Mathews earned his first career coach- Last season, Mathews’ guided the Tigers to ing win in late November when Towson the best turnaround in CAA history, posting edged Navy, 55-54. a 16-14 mark overall and a 9-9 record in the He led the Tigers to their first CAA CAA. Towson also earned a seeding of fifth win in February when Towson beat Hofstra, in the CAA Tournament, its highest ever. 68-62. In 2003-04, Mathews’ Tigers jumped out Prior to being named as the Tigers’ head to an 8-1 start in the non-conference season. coach in May 2001, he was an important part They finished with a 9-19 final mark. The 8- of the success story at Virginia Tech. In his 1 start was the best since 1981-82, and four seasons as an assistant coach to Bonnie Towson was able to play more competitively Henrickson, he helped Tech post a 92-33 in the Colonial Athletic Association season. record and create unprecedented interest in The Joe His Tigers are learning what it takes to the team. During those seasons, Virginia Tech’s win and have begun to implement those average home attendance rose to nearly 3,000 Mathews File strategies. per game. During the past four seasons at Towson, he He joined Coach Henrickson at Virginia Born has been in the process of rebuilding the Tech for her first season at the Blacksburg, August 13, 1965 Tigers’ women’s basketball program. Virginia school. In 1997-98, Virginia Tech Family The numbers don’t tell the whole story. enjoyed the biggest turnaround in school Wife - Lorie Under Mathews’s tutelage, his teams have history. The Hokies went 22-10 in their first become more physical and have honed their season and reached the second round of the Daughter - Riley Elizabeth basketball smarts as they’ve accumulated NCAA Tournament. Virginia Tech had gone Education experience. just 10-21 the year before Henrickson and B.A., Radford, 1991 Despite posting a 3-25 record in 2002-03, Mathews arrived in Blacksburg. Mathews made Towson a much more com- In 1997-98, Virginia Tech won its first Coaching petitive team. The Tigers earned a 62-52 win Atlantic-10 Conference championship, Experience over Virginia Commonwealth late in the beating Massachusetts in the title game in 1989-94 season and gave Drexel all it could handle in overtime. In the NCAA Tournament, the Assistant Coach, a 52-46 first round game at the CAA Hokies stunned 23rd-ranked Wisconsin in Radford Tournament. the regionals before losing to Florida. 1994-97 Assistant Coach, Butler 1997-2001 Assistant Coach, Virginia Tech 2001-Present Head Coach, Towson NCAA Tournament Appearances 1994 Radford 1996 Butler 1998 Virginia Tech 1999 Virginia Tech 2001 Virginia Tech 5 Coaching Staff Head Coach Joe Matthews, continued Joe Mathews The following year, Virginia Tech had the Georgia State. But the season ended with a season, he was promoted to the position of best season in school history with a final 28- loss to Maryland. part-time assistant coach for Radford’s new 3 record. Tech won its first 18 games of the The 2000-01 season was Tech’s first year head coach, Lubomyr Lichonczak. season and finished the regular season with in the powerful Big East Conference. He graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor’s a 25-1 record. The Hokies were runners-up However, the Hokies did very well. They had of Science degree in Health and Physical to Xavier in the Atlantic-10 Tournament and an 11-5 Big East record and finished fourth Education. He also had a minor in made their second straight trip to the NCAA in the league. The Hokies earned their third Psychology. Tournament. In the NCAA’s, Virginia Tech NCAA Tournament berth in four years. Tech After graduation, he remained at the school hosted a regional tournament, beating Saint finished with a 22-9 overall record, beating for three more years as a full-time member Peter’s and Auburn to advance to the Sweet Denver in the NCAA Tournament before of the women’s basketball coaching staff. He Sixteen. The first round game against Saint losing to Texas Tech. was the Highlanders’ recruiting coordinator, Peter’s drew a school crowd of 10,052 to In four years at Virginia Tech, Coach directed the team’s summer camp and assisted Cassell Colisuem. Tech’s season ended in the Mathews excelled in his role as the Hokies’ in all areas of scouting, on-floor coaching regional semi-finals with a loss to second- recruiting coordinator. He also tutored Tech’s and strength and conditioning. ranked Tennessee. post players. In 1999 and 2000, he was named During coach Mathews’ five years at In 1999-2000, Tech had its third straight as the one of the top 20 assistant coaches in the Radford, the Highlanders were the dominant 20-win season, finishing the year with a 20- country by The Women’s Basketball Journal. team in the Big South Conference. Radford 11 record. The Hokies earned “Joe was a tremendous asset to our won five consecutive Big South champi- a berth in the Women’s program for four years,” said Coach onships from 1989 to 1994. In his final National Invitational Henrickson. “He’s been a good friend of season, the Highlanders won their fifth Tournament. In the mine for an even longer time. He is a straight Big South championship and made first round, Tech fantastic teacher who has a very good their first NCAA Tournament appearance. beat rapport with young women. He is a In his twelve seasons as a college assistant great role model and he has a tremen- coach, he helped his teams post a 241-117 dous knowledge of the game. We hated record. In nine of the twelve years, the teams to lose him and we’ll miss him. But, won 20 games or more. we’re very happy for him.” He has been associated with eight confer- Prior to joining Coach Henrickson at ence championship teams while five teams Virginia Tech, he was an assistant coach have gone to the NCAA Tournament and at Butler University for three years. one team went to the WNIT. During his three years at the Indianapolis Towson University Athletic Director school, Butler had three consecutive Dr. Wayne Edwards said, “it is not a coinci- twenty-win seasons. dence that every program with which Joe At Butler, he was an assistant coach for Mathews has been associated has achieved coach June Olkowski, currently the head tremendous success. Joe’s strong recruiting, coach at Northwestern University. coaching and interpersonal skills have been In three years at Butler, he helped the significant components of the women’s bas- team compile a 59-26 record. In 1996, ketball successes at Radford, Butler and Butler won the Midwestern Collegiate Virginia Tech. I am confident that, under his Conference Tournament championship leadership, the Towson women’s basketball and made its first appearance in the program will quickly become highly compet- NCAA Tournament. itive and successful, both locally and within A native of Stanley, Virginia, coach the Colonial Athletic Association.” Mathews started his coaching career at Coach Mathews is the eighth head coach a very young age. He joined coach in the history of Tiger women’s basketball Charlene Curtis’ women’s basketball He resides in the Towson area with his coaching staff in 1989-90 as an under- wife, the former Lorie O’Brien and his baby graduate student. daughter Riley Elizabeth. He remained as an assistant coach at Radford until 1994. In the 1990-91 6 Coaching Staff Q and A with Head CoachJoe Joe Mathews Mathews What attracted you to Towson success.