The women's movement took hold in the 70s and fortunately so did women's basketball at Dominican with a team so independent thinking that it created its own uniforms and identity that left an indelible mark.

The first organized women's basketball team at Dominican to almost exclusively play college opponents was conceived out of pick-up games in 1972. Yet, within just a year or two, that squad quickly earned such a reputation that it was twice invited to The Muni Bus Classic at the University of San Francisco. 

One could say the women's basketball program at Dominican was reborn by '74.

"We were the team to beat," recalls Shelly Stefanko Hendricks '74.

The team was generated from the brainstorm of an incoming freshman, Angie Salinas '76, who would go on to become the first female Hispanic general in the history of the United States Marine Corps. She managed to get a women's basketball team in shape, literally and figuratively, as there was no coach, no schedule, no league, and no organized practices in the beginning.

"There were people saying `OK, if you need a body, I'll come.' They hadn't played organized sports before,'" Angie says.

"The amount of effort Angie put into getting it off the ground was fantastic," Shelly says. "She was like dynamite. She got things moving."

According to publications provided by Dominican University Archives and Sister Patricia Corr, in 1971 the college converted its Physical Education Department to the Department of Movement Education. Team sports were considered extra curricular activities and there appeared to be more interest on campus in Aikido than basketball. For years, Dominican preferred interclass athletics over intercollegiate athletics. 

The newly-organized women's team in 1972 congregated in the tiny gymnasium inside Hanify Hall, a.k.a. as The Barn. Until Hanify Hall was built, Dominican students played basketball on an outdoor court behind the convent as far back as 1916-17. Hanify Hall was dedicated in 1919 in honor of a generous yachtsman, John Hanify. A "housewarming" party was organized by Miss Fisher, then Dominican's athletics director.

In the early years, Dominican formed senior and junior teams and beat private school teams such as Miss Head's Seminary and Lux School. When it first ventured away from strictly intramural competition, the women's basketball team was not terribly successful. They lost multiple games to San Rafael High School one year. There is record of a Dominican team losing one game against an unnamed opponent by the score of 118-12.

The Barn was flanked by a swimming pool and tennis courts off Locust Avenue, but the basketball court inside was about to get crowded. Dominican College became a member of the Athletic Conference of American College Women (ACACW), even though the women's team played mostly high school squads and intramural games.

Angie started reaching out and scheduling games against college teams and her band of basketball players followed her. They traveled throughout the San Francisco Bay Area – even as far south as Modesto – to compete in games because they were lucky if they managed to get other teams to come to Dominican to play the Penguins in their antiquated gym.

"There was literally like a foot between the baseline and the wall. If you were driving for a fastbreak, it was harrowing. I had to learn to go straight up and straight down when I made a layup or else I would run into the wall," Angie says of The Barn. "But we had the advantage when other schools would come to us because we knew how to play in it. Every other team was claustrophobic." 

Yet, despite its faults and shortcomings, Hanify Hall was the Penguins' home and the team was grateful.

"I was just glad we had a place to play indoors," Shelly chuckled.

The women's basketball college program initially had its growing pains, but soon received the backing of President Sister Samuel Conlan. She asked Marylinda Wheeler, Dean of Students, to help coach the team.
 
"My sophomore year it really started to get more teeth," Angie says.

By then Angie and Shelly were joined on the team by Mary "Red" Kell '74, Kathryn Wiedenfeld-Smith '77, Chris Gutierrez '77, Christi Worrall Shearer '76, Sandi Medina-Haberman '76, Patty Dyess '76,  and Maureen McDonough Thompson '76, who was a sweet-shooting guard though she was deaf. They made their own uniforms. They bought plain blue t-shirts and attached iron-on patches with numbers and the letters "DC" to them. They all wore white P.E. shorts or "pennies."

And they were formidable.

In 1973, they had a 9-3 regular season record and were invited with Mills College to the four-team Muni Bus Classic, hosted by the University of San Francisco, which entered two teams. The tournament was created to rival the men's Cable Car Classic. Angie suffered a knee injury and Shelly was named to the all-tournament team as Dominican finished second in the inaugural post-season event.

Dominican was so impressive that it earned another invitation to USF's Muni Bus Classic. With Angie as their team captain, the Penguins now had a full roster and a schedule. They even ordered new gold-and-white uniforms.

"It was almost as if the new uniforms took us from 'rag tag' to legitimate," Shelly says.

According to USF Foghorn school newspaper, Dominican was the top seed in the USF Muni Bus Classic in 1974, based on the fact the Penguins, with Angie scoring 36 points, had twice beaten USF earlier in the season. But USF upset Dominican 37-31 in the first game of the tournament and Dominican wound up playing in the consolation game. Angie and Shelly were voted to the all-tournament team and received trophies.

The next year the Penguins were blessed with a full-time coach. Ron Wheatley, a graduate student seeking his master's degree in counseling at Dominican, was recruited to coach both the men's and women's teams. He had his women players practice at six in the morning, beginning each session by playing a record by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. It was called "Wake Up Everybody."

"The girls team was much more fun for me," says Wheatley who became a highly successful girls basketball coach in high school and this fall earned induction into the Marin County Athletics Hall of Fame. "There was not much pressure in terms of winning or losing, although we took it seriously and we played hard. It was a new experience for some of the girls."

And a fun experience that inspired another generation of women's basketball players at Dominican.

"I can remember fast breaks, miracle shots, and an old barn filled with laughter and camaraderie of young women with their entire future before them," Angie says. "Who would have imagined the tiny wick those hearty band of few would light."

Wheatley, for one, was impressed by his players' dedication behind Angie and her skills as team captain and organizer.

"Angie was very feisty and competitive and a good leader on the court," Wheatley says. "I was proud to have known her."

That team, with its first coach, finished the season with a record of 7-8. The women players were so grateful to have a full-time coach that at season's end they gave him a gift. They presented Wheatley with a plaque that he has kept to this day.

Its inscription?
 
"To win the game is great. To play the game is greater. To love the game is greatest."