When Natilee Brown, Dawn Gosselin, and Tanya Campbell joined the University College of the Fraser Valley's women's basketball team in the 1999/2000 season, the team achieved an 8-8 record and won a silver medal in the provincial championships. Erin Lee rejoined the team the next year after a couple of years off. The four players, who are all finishing their collegiate careers this spring, have not just watched, but been instrumental parts of Cascades teams that have been nothing short of devastating for opponents over the last three years.

During that span, the women have compiled a 47-3 league record, outscoring their opponents by an average of 24.5 points per game, not to mention collecting two BCCAA provincial championship gold medals. So far this season, the women are 14-0 in league play and this year just may be the best one yet.

It really says something about this team and this group of women in particular that when asked to name their highlight of such a successful tenure, they unanimously report that it is the friendships and lifetime bonds that they have formed with their teammates that stand out for them.

"For me the highlight has just been meeting these great people," says Brown. "We've been able to get really close."

"This is the first time in our lives that we've been able to have such continuity on a team and been able to play together with the same people for four straight years, with the same core group for the last three," says Gosselin.

"Without even knowing the outcome yet," says Lee, "this year would have to be the highlight for me just because of the level of friendship and chemistry on this team."

All four women credit rookie coach Al Tuscherer with much of their success this season. "Al is so observant,"says Gosselin. "He can really read people and knows when they need someone to talk to," adds Campbell.

The women praise the entire coaching staff for the job they've done this year, citing the balance between the good cop and bad cop that Tuscherer brings as instrumental in their achievements.

"When I look back at the player I was when I first came here and compare it to where I was at the beginning of this year, I had really grown, but this year I have grown so much more," explains Gosselin. The group also acknowledges that they have "awesome parents who support us."

When the conversation turned to the topic of this year's playoffs, all of the talk was about having confidence this year and believing in themselves. "Not to sound cocky," says Campbell, "but we feel that we will control what happens to this team this year. We believe that no other team will determine the outcome of our season. It's in our hands."

That's not cockiness. That's the confidence that these women have come to have in themselves, their teammates, their coaches, and in the game of basketball. When asked if this year was the year to take it all, Lee started knocking on any piece of wood she could find. "We just love playing basketball," she says.

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