5 questions for ... Joe Matthews

Photo by Kanji Takeno

TU Women’s Basketball coach discusses

record-breaking season

Women’s Basketball finished their 2007-2008 season with records in total wins, season attendance, single-game attendance and length of winning streak. Coach Joe Matthews says the team’s growing successes parallel TU’s growing commitment to athletics.

How many games did Tiger women's basketball win this season?

We were 22 [wins] and 10 [losses]. That’s not only a record number of wins, it’s the first time in our 25-year history of Division I play that we’ve had more than 20 wins in a season. For many, the benchmark for a great season is 20 wins or more. We also had our longest winning streak around the middle of the year —11 straight wins.

How does that compare to when you started seven years ago?

There hadn’t been an emphasis on women’s basketball when I arrived. At the time we had only two wins; I think we were ranked 314 out of 324 Division I teams. My colleagues and I knew there was a lot of work to be done, but we saw the potential to turn things around. Subsequently we went up to three wins, then nine wins and finally up to 16 wins. During our injury-plagued 2005-2006 season we dropped back down to nine wins, but last season we rallied to 17 wins and to 22 this year.

Attendance was also up?

Yes. We had record total attendance—just under 8,000 fans for 13 home games. We also broke our single-game attendance record, with about 1500 spectators for the game against UMBC.

To what do you attribute the growing success of Tiger women’s basketball?

There are many factors at play, but I think things really changed, not just for women’s basketball, but for TU athletics on the whole, when the university hired Bob Caret as president. In my opinion, his vision for TU includes an athletics program that’s truly competitive and not merely adequate.   

Do you see this as a shift in attitude?

Definitely. We used to emphasize players graduating, having positive experiences and feeling great about TU. I think President Caret shares those sentiments, but he also wants our players to achieve and compete at the highest level. As our program grows in prominence, we’re able to attract a stronger quality of athlete, because they see we take sports seriously and want to play here. That’s what you want as a coach.

[back to main article index]