1976 Sandburg Womens Basketball: From Startup to State Champs

1975-6 Carl Sandburg Women’s Basketball Team

After Title IX’s passage in 1972, Illinois high schools and colleges scrambled to start up women’s sports teams. Carl Sandburg Juco fielded there first women’s team for the 1974-5 school year. 

It was great timing for CSC, Galesburg HS had fielded girls teams in the 1972-3 and 1973-4 school years on a limited basis. GHS had very strong teams, going undefeated on a schedule of only 4 games and 6 games during those two years. The two stars of GHS were Debbie Patty and Jodie Prina, they graduated in ‘74. So two extraordinary players were ready to play for CSC in that first season. Patty and Prina were not just good, they were great players. Patty would go on after CSC to play some professional basketball, and Prina went onto play for the University of Illinois. 

While many Athletic Directors at this time were wrestling with how to treat women’s sports, it appears that Bill Hungate didn’t think it was tough to figure out. Starting out, some high schools and colleges had their teams play a token number of games and wear t-shirts as uniforms. Hungate chose to treat the women’s team the same as the men- the same quality uniforms and same schedule as the men. Hungate’s idea of having the women play the prelim to the men was an idea that became state-wide in juco’s. 

In the Register-Mail in 1976, his coach and daughter, Mary Kay Hungate said,”He (Bill Hungate) has done so much for our program. We get the same things as the men. The same money, everything.”

Mary Kay Hungate’s 1972 GHS senior picture- 2 years later she became CSC head coach. 

For the first season, CSC hit pay dirt in picking a coach. Mary Kay Hungate was only 21 years old, and was a junior at Western Illinois at the time. She was a “coach’s kid.” There was no basketball at Galesburg HS when she graduated in 1972. She first went to CSC, where she served as her father, Bill Hungate’s statistician and assistant coach. It was a great training ground for a young woman who wanted to go into coaching. 

Coach Hungate would go on from CSC to be the varsity girls coach at Peoria Richwoods, where the Knights became a state power. During her time at Richwoods, Hungate’s teams went 198-12 winning State in 1983 and being in Final Four three other times. From Richwoods, Hungate went to La Tech as an assistant where they won the National Title in 1988. So indeed, CSC got a great coach to start their program. 

In 1974-5, CSC women went 19-5 behind 6’0” Debbie Patty (24.3ppg/16rpg), and 5’8” Jodie Prina (24.1ppg/13rpg). With both Prina and Patty returning, there was reason for optimism going into the ‘75-‘76 season. 

Following Patty and Prina from GHS were two good players, who were a year behind them in school. Carol Mueller (5’8”) and Mary Padilla (5’6”) had started with Patty and Prina on an undefeated GHS team when they were juniors. Padilla and Mueller would step in as starters immediately as freshmen at CSC in ‘75-‘76. Mueller was good around the basket and an active rebounder, while Padilla was an excellent ball handler.

Mary Padilla on GHS team. 

Coach Mary Kay Hungate would say, “Mary Padilla is a good outside shooter and Carol Mueller is looking well underneath.”

Other members of the ‘75-‘76 team were: Sally Burns (5’4” Warren), Cindy Perry (5’10” Knoxville), Jayne Karlovic (5’11” LaHarpe), Tina Barman (5’4” Yorkwood), Amy Faralli (5’3” Abingdon), Debbie Small (5’5” Abingdon). 

The Chargers got off to a slow start, losing their first three games. Debbie Patty missed double digit games, first with eligibility concerns about a professional team she played with during the off-season. The national association ruled that the games she played were exhibitions not competitive games so she was allowed to then play. But Patty then struggled with injuries and missed well over half the schedule. 

With Patty gone, others had to step up. Prina regularly scored 25-35 points and grabbed 10-15 rebounds per game. Mueller averaged a double-double most of the season, Padilla regularly had 15 points and 5-10 assists, and Tina Barman scored in double figures. The key to CSC’s ability to dominate opponents was their full court press that created havoc. 

Carol Mueller

The combination of their depth and their press allowed CSC to go on a 13 game win season. After their slow start, the Chargers finished their regular season with a 17-2 run. 

They entered the Champaign Sectional as the #1 seed. They defeated Parkland 58-43 with Jodie Prina having 20 points/17 rebounds, Mary Padilla 16 points/6 assists, Carol Mueller 8 points, and Tina Barman 12 points. 

They defeated Sauk Valley in the championship 76-46. Prina had 27/10, Mueller 16/10, Padilla 14, Barman 10, and Small 10. 

At the Danville State Championships, the team to beat was DuPage. The Chargers dispensed with them 70-50 with Prina 30/15, Padilla 14, Patty 12. Nineteen teams would advance to the Nationals in Hutchinson, Kansas, and CSC in only their second year fielding a team would be one of the teams. 

Unfortunately, the Chargers were matched up in round one with the #1 seed from Oklahoma. CSC lost to the eventual National Champs in in game one, despite Prina’s 24 points. 

In the double-elimination tourney, CSC came back to beat Colorado NW 64-54 with Prina going for 30/13, Barmen 12, and Mueller 11. Unfortunately, early in the game they lost Padilla to an ankle injury and she was done for the tourney.

In the next game vs a school from Texas, CSC lost both Mueller and Small to injuries early in the game. Down three starters, it was tough for CSC to compete. In losing this game, Prina scored 26. 

CSC finished 22-8 on the season, and Jodie Prina averaged 23.5ppg. 

Jodie Prina- CSC’s leading scorer.

Carol Mueller’s Thoughts on CSC Experience

CSC was so much fun. I never thought it would happen. Mary Kay was an outstanding coach. She did not put up with sh*t. 

Mary Padilla’s Thoughts on CSC Experience

Don't know how to put that excitement into words. It was a once in a lifetime experience. We had a 13 game winning streak where we beat teams by 30+ points. We were small but quick and had a secret weapon named Jodie Prina. 

Some of my best memories were playing for Mary Kay Hungate, and I believe she'd be a WNBA coach if she was still coaching. 

Mary Hungate during her time at Richwoods.

Jodie Prina’s Thoughts on CSC Experience

Again, being the first team formed, it was a struggle. It was just more of the same, except Carl Sandburg was still using temporary buildings and had no gymnasium.  So we played and practiced at the old Corpus  Christi gym. That was cool because it's where all my brother's played their basketball games. So i was excited following in their footsteps so to speak. The women who showed up for the team try outs were really excited about just getting the chance to play.

Getting to go to Hutchinson, Kansas for nationals was a dream come true. There was a lot of buzz in the local papers and we were interviewed on a radio show.  This was a big transition from the experience we had in high school, plus we played a 19 game schedule. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. It seemed that things were changing and women's sports were finally getting its due recognition. 

Mary Kay was great, but she too was just starting out. I think she was only 2 years older than her players, so that offered us, as a team, more of a connection. She too was born a couple of years too soon to have gotten to play, but she made the most of what she was dealt. It was really great to hear of her success as a coach at a higher level. 

Mary Kays father was the men's coach at Carl Sandburg and he was a great supporter of the women's team. I believe it was because of him that a team was formed at all. Not all men supported women and were threatened by women getting their chance at playing organized sports.