State College JV Team Continues Streak Through 2002-03
by Emily Grove
Feb. 21, 2003

Note, the story of an undefeated team continued through all of 2003-04 and through the first four games of the 2004-05 campaign when the junior version of the Little Lady Lions lost to Oakland Catholic on Dec. 17, 2004. The streak included 101 straight wins and covered five seasons.

Record Year
16-3 1995-96
19-1 1996-97
14-3 1997-98
16-2 1998-99
18-0 1999-2000
20-0 2000-01
20-0 2001-02
21-0 2002-03
17-0 2003-04
14-3 2004-05

The key to a lengthy winning streak is taking it one game at a time.

These words of wisdom came from State College Junior Varsity coach Rob Irwin, who knows a thing or two about winning streaks as coach of a J.V. program that hasn't lost a game since the second-to-last one of its 1998-1999 season.

The team finished 21-0 this season, stretching the program's winning streak to 80 games.

"Being undefeated for four seasons at any level of competition is an unbelievable task to accomplish," Irwin said.

In fact, the all-time win record in men's or women's Division I college basketball is only eight games more than the State College J.V. team's current winning streak. UCLA's men set the 88-game full-season record from 1971-1974.

Connecticut started the longest running winning streak in women's Division I college hoops in 2001 and recently hit the 64-game mark, while the men's Division I record belongs to Kentucky and currently stands at just 15 games.

Irwin said winning is an attitude instilled in State College players from the junior high level through the varsity program.

"We want our girls to believe they can win any game while playing basketball for State College," Irwin said.

And they do.

Junior Sarah O'Shea started on the J.V. team her freshman and sophomore years, two 20-0 seasons for the program.

O'Shea remembered an easy 2001-2002 season.

"In my sophomore year, we never had a close game," O'Shea said. "We beat everybody by 15 or more points."

Freshman year was a bit more unsettling for O'Shea, with Altoona posing a threat at home and the J.V. Lady Little Lions pulling out a win courtesy of a three-point shot from Nicole Scipione.

Scipione, now a senior, remembered the same game as a close call from her sophomore year.

"I think the closest game was when Altoona took us to overtime in that season," Scipione said.

Sophomore Kelly Ashcraft enjoyed her first year on the J.V. team this season.

Ashcraft said the team always pulled together when it was necessary, specifically naming this season's 47-45 win over Oakland Catholic Jan. 31.

"I think that the team that came the closest to breaking the record was this year, Oakland Catholic, when we only beat them by one basket, with an Oakland Catholic three-point shot on the buzzer," Ashcraft said.

Kelsey Ream, a freshman J.V. player this year, also said the game against Oakland Catholic was the biggest challenge of the season.

Ream, who was responsible for the offensive rebound and putback that put State College up by two points at the end of the game, gave much credit to her teammates for an amazing season.

"We get along great and play well together," Ream said.

O'Shea and Scipione also congratulated this year's J.V. team for keeping the streak alive.

"Everyone on the team played well, and the team always had an excellent performance in the critical games," O'Shea said.

"They certainly have beaten the good and buried the bad," Scipione added. "Everyone contributed and made a difference out there."

Irwin said the contributions of all the J.V. players over the past four years show the amount of dedication they have to the sport and to the program.

He acknowledged the efforts of both the players and the parents throughout the entire year, not just during basketball season, as huge benefits to the J.V. program.

"They have made it a joy to work with the J.V. and varsity players," Irwin said. "I still look forward to coming to practice every day to work with the players with the goal of getting a little better each practice."