A University of Winnipeg women’s basketball squad that set records in the mid-1990s that still stand today has been honoured by the Canada West Hall of Fame.
The hall, which recognizes excellence in university sports across western Canada, inducted the 1992-1995 Wesmen women’s basketball teams on Wednesday, citing the U of W program’s record 88 consecutive wins and three straight championships.
The Wesmen dynasty went more than two calendar years without a loss – the longest streak in Canadian university basketball history, and tying a record set by the UCLA Bruins men’s basketball program in the 1960s.
Point guard Marnie Minkus (Nechwediuk) was part of that streak, and she told 680 CJOB’s Sports Show that at the time, the team wasn’t concerned about setting records. They just wanted to win.
“When we look back and we talk about it as a team – we all still hang out, it’s one big family still – we didn’t really ever realize, I think, that we were on that streak,” said Minkus.
“We just pushed forth every day, and every day was a new competitor that we had to take down, and we just continued to work every day to accomplish that next win. I don’t think we ever looked and said, ‘We’re on this streak and we’re going to lose.’ I just always knew we were going to continue to win until we reached our goal.”
Minkus said a major reason for the team’s success was that despite a number of standout players, everyone stuck to their own jobs on the court and didn’t compete to be the stars.
“Everyone knew their role,” she said. “No one sat there saying, ‘What about me? Why am I not the one who’s the star?’ We all took our roles and ran with it.
“I thought, ‘I’m part of something special and I want to be part of it and I want to be there.'”
The induction into the Canada West Hall of Fame isn’t the first honour for the Wesmen dynasty. The team was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame almost immediately after its third consecutive championship in 1995, and in the ensuing years has been recognized by the Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame and Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.
Whenever the teams get that kind of recognition, said Minkus, it’s another opportunity for the former players to connect and reminisce.
“We’re reminded of just how special that team was and how awesome it was to be a part of,” she said.
The Wesmen teams will be honoured at a ceremony Friday.
Comments