With all the attention given to the Knicks’ Jamal Crawford’s 52 points against the Miami Heat and his addition to the elite 50-point club with members no less stellar than Bernard King and Willis Reed, let’s not forget Madison Square Garden history.
Before nifty 50s by Crawford, King, Allan Houston and Patrick Ewing, there was Carol Blazejowski. As a record-breaking collegian at Montclair State, “Blaze” scored 52 points at the Garden against Queens College on March 6, 1977, in the first women’s college double-header at the hallowed hall. It still stands as a single-game record – for women and men. Her 52 was scored before the three-pointer was a part of the game.
Blazejowski, now the Liberty’s senior VP and GM, finished her trailblazing college career in 1978, with 3,199 points and the first Wade Trophy, which goes to the best woman college player. She was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1994.
It would be nice to see her record commemorated in the Garden rafters, much like Red Holzman’s 613 wins. Hoist up the banner when Blaze’s Liberty take the floor, or on the rare occasion when women’s college teams play there.
Comments (1)
Great post! Somehow, it is always the women's records that get overlooked.
(By the way, where is your photo on this blog?)