Holding Her Own, Brother

ANN DEACON was almost apologetic. "I don't know what got into me," she said. "I just felt like shooting every time I got the ball. And when I started hitting, it just made me want to shoot some more." Deacon was talking about the career-high 35 points she scored in Dartmouth's 82-73 overtime victory over Massachusetts in the opening round of the E.A.I.A.W. regional basketball tournament. Deacon scored seven of her points during the five-minute overtime, including the last six points of the game. "She won it for us," acknowledged coach Chris Wielgus.

The game marked the first time a women's basketball team from the Ivy League has received a postseason tournament bid. The victory advanced Dartmouth to the regional semi-finals at Boston University. A week before the Massachusetts game, host Dartmouth won its second straight Ivy League championship by defeating Barnard, Pennsylvania, and Princeton. Deacon's 20 points in the semi-final victory over Pennsylvania and 23 points in the 63-50 trouncing of Princeton in the finals earned her the tournament's most-valuable-player award. Joining Deacon on the all-tourney team was junior center Gail Koziara, who averaged 20.3 points and 16.8 rebounds per game as Dartmouth won 20 of its first 27 games of the season. The Green was unbeaten in ten Ivy League outings.

Deacon doesn't remember when she first started playing basketball. "It must have been when I was real little," said the sophomore from Westwood, Massachusetts. "We always had a hoop in the backyard. I have five older brothers, and they used to let me shoot at half-time of their games. But they never wanted me to play. They kept me out of their games until I was in the sixth or seventh grade, when I could hold my own. I still play basketball with my brothers in the driveway at home. It's the best practice I get. In fact, I didn't even play in junior high. I'd rather go home and play."

She did play four years of basketball at Westwood High School. During her senior year, she scored 22 points per game, and Westwood won the Massachusetts state championship. She was named the most valuable player of that championship game and in 1979 was a high school all-America selection. Deacon spurned athletic scholarships to come to Dartmouth. "I wanted an education rather than a scholarship," she says now from the vantage point of majoring in history with a B average, "and besides, I knew the team had a lot of potential."

A 5-foot 7-inch guard, Deacon was on the starting five as a freshman and was named Ivy League rookie of the year and to the all-Ivy first team. She finished second in the league in scoring, behind teammate Koziara. Deacon scored 15.4 points per game this winter. "Ann is an excellent all-around basketball player who has a vast repertoire of skill," said Wielgus, now in her fifth year as coach of the Green team. "She is a confident competitor who likes to be challenged. Determined and strong-willed, she helps spark the team."

The Dartmouth team was seeded number two in the Division I regional tournament. Deacon said that was the most memorable aspect of the season. "We were just worried about getting a postseason bid," she said. "Being selected most valuable player in the Ivies was pretty exciting, too, when you have an all-region player like Gail [Koziara] on your team." Deacon sees a third straight Ivy League crown in Dartmouth's future. "I feel we'll probably win again next year, although it's getting harder to top the previous season's performance," she conceded.

Ann Deacon was Dartmouth's scoring machine and the Ivies' most valuable player.

Gymnast Mike Mitchell, here performing in his specialty, came back from a shoulder injury and helped put his team atop the Ivies.