The golden era for Beloit College women's basketball came in the mid-to-late 1990s led by Marie Mullooly Rothermel.
 
Hailing from nearby Clinton, Wisconsin, Rothermel was a fantastic all-around player for the Buccaneers earning Honorable Mention All-America honors from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.
 
Rothermel was named the Midwest Conference North Division Player of the Year in 1996-97, was selected First Team All-MWC in 1994-95 and 1996-97, and garnered Second Team honors in 1995-96.
 
No stranger to the big stage Rothermel helped Beloit to the championship game of the MWC Tournament all four seasons. The Bucs, led by their 6'1 forward, won the Midwest Conference and league tournament titles in 1994-95 and 1996-97 earning the conference's automatic bid to compete in the NCAA Division III Tournament. In 1995-96, Beloit fell in the MWC Tournament final but was still awarded an at-large bid into the DIII tournament. 
 
A complete player on both sides of the ball, Rothermel set the league record with 243 career blocks, a mark that stood until 2013. She became the eighth player in program history to join the 1,000-point club accumulating 1,176 points in four seasons. At the time of her graduation, Rothermel held the program record for field goal percentage in a season (60.8, 1995-96) and top three marks in rebounds in a season (220), career field goals (491), career rebounds (681), and career blocks (243). She is one of just two Buccaneers in program history to record more than 200 career blocks.
 
Rothermel was inducted into the Beloit College Hall of Honor in 2009.

Stay tuned for the next feature in this series set to release April 9.

Previous Features: 
Ron Bontemps - Class of 1951 - Men's Basketball
Mark Smith - Class of 1981 - Men's Basketball
Steve Dixon - Class of 1994 - Football
Josh Rosen - Class of 1995 - Men's Soccer and Basketball

Beloit's "10 of the Best" series features some of the best Buccaneers to have represented Beloit College as past of the Midwest Conference Centennial Celebration. The league will be featuring athletes from each member institution in its history in chronological order by class year beginning March 1. Beloit's feature schedule will mirror when the former Buccaneers are recognized on the conference site. Bucs recognized in this series were selected by committee. For more information visit the Midwest Conference website.