Then & Now: Women's Basketball
8/23/2022 11:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball, My GW: Celebrating our Stories
Cathy (Neville) Cranberg ('95) talks with senior Faith Blethen
In honor of the 50th anniversary of Title IX, this is the latest entry in a GWsports.com series connecting distinguished alumnae with current members of the Buff and Blue to discuss what’s changed and what hasn’t across their program’s history.
A guard hailing from Durham, N.C., Cathy (Neville) Cranberg was a reliable contributor and two-time team captain during a tremendous run of success for GW women's basketball from 1991-1995.
Under the direction of GW Athletics Hall of Fame Head Coach Joe McKeown, the Buff and Blue collected a total of 94 wins over Cranberg's four seasons. Those nationally-competitive squads, led by Cranberg's decorated classmates Debbie Hemery and Darlene Saar, made their share of history while reaching the postseason every year.
The bookends of Cranberg's time in Buff and Blue were particularly memorable.
As a rookie, she was part of a squad that spent three weeks ranked No. 6 in the nation -- still the program's highwater mark -- before winning the program's first A-10 Championship title and advancing to the second round of the 1992 NCAA Tournament.
In 1994-95, Cranberg was a senior leader who averaged 11.4 minutes per game on a tremendous squad that featured six future Hall of Famers in Hemery, Saar, Tajama Abraham, Lisa Cermignano, Colleen McCrea and Myriah Lonergan.
Boosted by that remarkable depth, the Buff and Blue brought the NCAA Tournament to the Smith Center after sweeping the A-10 regular season and tournament titles. Then, they delighted an excited home crowd by knocking out DePaul and Drake to reach their first-ever Sweet 16 before ultimately closing 26-6 overall and ranked No. 15 in the final ESPN/USA Today national poll.
After graduating with a Psychology degree in 1995, Cranberg found that the competitive fire and drive that made a difference on the hardwood translated well to the professional world.
Today, Cranberg is a business leader, investor, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. She remains true Buff and Blue, eager to help the next generation of student-athletes coming through Foggy Bottom to find success, in competition and well beyond.
Cranberg recently joined Faith Blethen, a senior forward from Boothbay, Maine, on the current squad, to share the memories that made her time at GW special and why it's meaningful to maintain a connection to her alma mater.