The legendary 1998-99 women's basketball program went 31-2 under the direction of Robin Hagen-Smith and Gregg Smith, going on winning streaks of 14 and 12 games during the regular season and conference tournament.
Shawnee State went on to win each of its five tournament contests to claim the university's first-ever national championship, winning its five tournament contests by an average of 14.4 points per game. The Bears defeated Saint Francis (Ind.) to win the national title, 80-65.
The entire team was inducted into the Shawnee State Athletics Hall of Fame as well as the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame while eight members of the squad have been inducted into the Shawnee State Athletics Hall of Fame and two into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame on their playing or coaching prowess at Shawnee State.
Players
Brandi Baker Damron; 2006 SSU Hall of Fame inductee
Becky Holden Elkins; 2013 SSU Hall of Fame inductee
Sarah Wood Hood
Cheri Griffith Kline
Susie Kline
Brandy Humphrey Lightle
Brandi Munn; 2012 SSU Hall of Fame inductee
Carrie Brisker Purcell; 2007 SSU Hall of Fame inductee
Steffani Diesel-Slone
Erica Hayes Zinn; 1999 American Mideast Conference Player of the Year, 1999 NAIA National Player of the Year, 2005 SSU Hall of Fame inductee and 2023 Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame inductee
Kelli Smith; 2024 SSU Hall of Fame inductee
Coaches
Robin Hagen-Smith; 1989 Rio Grande Hall of Fame inductee, 1998 South Webster (Bloom-Vernon Local Schools) Hall of Fame inductee, 1999 NAIA National Coach of the Year, 2000 SSU Hall of Fame inductee (inaugural class), 2010 Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and 2011 NAIA Hall of Fame inductee
Gregg Smith; 2007 SSU Hall of Fame inductee
Lastly, the team always holds, in tight memory, three very special people whose spirit was vital en route to the 1999 National Championship – Shawnee State women's basketball player Mamie Brisker Pettit and the WNXT sports broadcasting duo of Roger Gray and Dale Hamilton. The legendary memories of a national championship run do not happen without them, but most importantly, it is the grace and presence with which they blessed us with and the good times that resulted from that which will truly be remembered forever.
