Boston College Athletics
Player Profile: Becky Gottstein
February 08, 2001 | Women's Basketball
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The average player listed as a forward in the BIG EAST women's basketball media guide is 6'1". Boston College's Becky Gottstein falls right on the average, also standing 6'1" tall, but she is anything but an average player.
A preseason All-America honorable mention selection by Street & Smith's, Gottstein is currently the Eagles' leader in both scoring and rebounding. She is one of only two players to rank in the top five in both categories in the BIG EAST, joining Notre Dame's All-America senior center Ruth Riley. But Gottstein is not so concerned with her personal achievements and success this season. Her main concern is her team's success, especially this season that has resulted in a retooling year after several key injuries early in the season.
WINNING ROOTS
Gottstein has not always been part of a winning team. There was her sophomore season in high school when her team finished fourth in the league. But something special happened the next season. The team, now comprised of two Gottsteins - Becky and sister Carolyn, went on a journey that took it on to win the New York Class A state title.
"My junior year in high school was a dream season. It was so awesome to go from an average team in our own league to the best team in the state," Gottstein commented.
Her senior season saw similar success as her team won the district championship, but fell just short in the state tournament. Though her Albany High School team did not take the state crown again, Gottstein's personal accolades, which started her junior season, continued to pour in. She was named player of the year by her area newspapers, television stations and coaches starting in her junior year. Once the decision to choose a college came, the choice of Boston College became clear.
"BC was a program on the rise. Nicole (Conway) and I were friends in high school and when BC started recruiting both of us, we realized that Coach Inglese was doing something right here. It was an emerging program and I believed it would benefit both me and the school if I came," Gottstein said.
THE START OF SOMETHING SPECIAL
Gottstein was one of four players who entered BC in the fall of 1998. Each of the four knew that something special was about to happen, that together they could help define and elevate the status of BC on the national college basketball scene.
"Breezy (Brianne Stepherson), Nicole, Kim (Mackie) and I believed in the team. We knew it was capable of winning. With Cal Bouchard and Alissa Murphy and the senior leadership, we came in and fully expected the team to do well."
And well they did. Defeating the No. 7 team in the nation, Notre Dame, early in the season, then topping No. 2, rival Connecticut at home - on television - set the Eagles up for a run at, as Gottstein would say, something awesome.
"Freshman year was just awesome. There's no other word for it. Beating UConn and Notre Dame at home and then facing Tennessee in the NCAA tournament was just unbelievable.
"It was weird, at one point, we were starting three freshman and we didn't know to be scared. We just played our game and it took us to the NCAA tournament," Gottstein remembers.
"There was one point in the NCAA tournament when we stepped on the court to face Tennessee and the whole thing suddenly came to me. I looked over and was standing next to Chamique Holdsclaw, who is probably the best women's player ever, and I was just like, `Oh my god!'. I think it hit me then that we were in the big time."
THE BEAT GOES ON
Her sophomore season started much like the previous year had. High expectations, now heightened by the success the year before, were rampant. In her freshman season, she - with Stepherson - was selected to the BIG EAST All-Rookie team. Gottstein, Stepherson and Conway were all named to the Women's Basketball News Service All-Freshman team. Gottstein personally averaged 10.4 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per contests, starting 15 of the Eagles' 29 games her first season. She also set the BC mark for field goal percentage with a 57.5 mark over the course of the season. The table was set to do something even more special in her second season.
The team competed in the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) to open the 1999-2000 season. The team breezed through the opening round with a win over regional foe Maine. The next team up: No. 22 Duke at the famed Cameron Indoor Stadium. The result was something that would soon become familiar to the team, a win. The second of a school record 26 wins that season. But with the win also came an opportunity to show the country what BC basketball was all about.
No. 3 Georgia stood before the Eagles next and the hometown team gave the Lady Bulldogs one of their best games of the season. Losing 78-70 on late game free throws, ("We should have won that game!" Gottstein quipped) the nation learned that Boston College was a team to contend with. In the consolation game of the WNIT, BC fell to Illinois, ranked 15th in the nation at that point, but the team was tired after playing five games in seven days and all four WNIT games on the road.
Gottstein, after notching double-doubles against both teams, was named to the All-WNIT team. She also made a name for herself as a big-game performer. Later in the season, she was named Most Valuable Player of the State Farm Classic at the University of Florida in December after again registering two double-doubles in the two tournament games. She received her third BIG EAST Player of the Week nod for the effort and was ready to take on the rigors of the BIG EAST schedule that lay ahead.
"When we played in the WNIT, it was an awesome opportunity to see just how good we were at that point. We knew we could compete with the best teams in the nation and it was good experience and competition at the beginning of the season. Our whole early non-conference schedule set us up for the year we had. It definitely prepared up for the BIG EAST season," Gottstein said.
But the 1999-2000 BIG EAST season is one that Gottstein would like to forget. A couple of games into the BIG EAST season, Gottstein began feeling severe pain in her ankle. Never one to sit out a drill or go a lightly due to pain, she plugged on in practice and the next few games. But, it all came to a head against Providence College on Jan. 15 in a home win.
BENCH TIME
"That was the first time I have ever asked out of a game before in my life," Gottstein recalls. "I was in a lot of pain, but I thought that I just had a cramp in my ankle. I didn't think much of it at the time."
But then a couple of days and several tests later, Gottstein received news that would not sit well with her. The team doctor told her that she had a stress fracture in the talus bone of her right ankle.
"Originally we thought it was worse than it actually was and that there was the possibility that my season was over," Gottstein remembers. "Once we found out it was a lesser fracture, I was told that there was the possibility that I could return for the postseason. But I was also told that I had to behave myself, use my crutches and stay off my foot. I did that and I was able to get back in the lineup in time for the BIG EAST tournament."
She heeded doctors and trainers' orders and in the opening round of the BIG EAST tournament, in which the Eagles were seeded fourth, Gottstein checked back into action. With 4:55 gone in the first half, she came off the bench against West Virginia on her way to seven points and nine rebounds in her first action in over six weeks.
"I was dying to play. I just wanted to get out there and get back on the court," Gottstein recalls. "Once I checked in, I was just running around, I was a little nervous. It had been a while, but I was so happy to back out there."
Gottstein also came off the bench in the Eagles' quarterfinal win over Georgetown and semifinal loss to host Connecticut, but she showed the basketball community, and herself, that she hadn't lost a thing in her six week stint on the bench. She averaged 14.7 points and 7.7 rebounds in the three tournament games. But the next order of business was the upcoming NCAA tournament, the second in as many years for the Eagles.
FUTURE RECOGNIZED
Though the team had a Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) rank of 16 headed into the NCAA tournament, the Eagles were given a fifth seed and were sent to the University of Virginia for their first and second round games. Unlike the men's tournament, early rounds are played at campus sites with the top four seeds in each of the four regions receiving a home bid.
"We really wanted a home bid last year. We thought that we had earned it, especially with our schedule early on and playing the top teams well. But, after we thought about it, we were winning all year so it was going to be no different trying to win on the road," Gottstein said.
With a return ticket to the starting lineup in her hand, Gottstein and the rest of the Eagles faced 12th seed Nebraska in the opening round, winning 93-76. Gottstein scored 20 points in the win, while also pulling down six rebounds. She played 27 minutes in that game as the Eagles set a date with host Virginia in the second round. Falling short in a late-game rally, the Eagles fell to the hosts 74-70, but not without the determination of Gottstein. She scored 25 points, one short of her career high, and grabbed 11 rebounds. It was her 14th double double of the career and a preview of things to come for the Gottstein, only a sophomore at the time.
The team finished the season with a school record 26 wins and an overall 26-9 record. But a strong ray came out of the NCAA tournament. The sophomore class emerged as the future leaders of the team. Gottstein and Stepherson, along with Conway and Mackie off the bench, paced the Eagles through the tournament and positioned themselves as the futures cogs for the team.
PERSONAL MISSION
Sensing a need for personal improvement, Gottstein stayed in Chestnut Hill over the summer and improved her game. She shot free throw after free throw, hit the weight room and made a commitment to meeting the BC athletic motto: bigger, faster, stronger.
A career 64 percent free throw shooter, Gottstein average has hovered around 79 percent this season and she is on track to set a career high in trips to the free throw line. She even ranks among the best in the league with her average, something the average fan might not have predicted in her first two seasons. Playing the post in the BIG EAST, Gottstein knew that she had to work hard in the off-season to improve herself.
"After classes ended, I made a full commitment to getting stronger and quicker. I wanted to be in better shape coming into the season. I knew we would have a different team this season and I wanted to bring more with my game. I wanted to be able to be more physical.
"I hate having weaknesses," Gottstein continues. "The thing that scares me most is letting people down. The fear of failure drives me to do better and make myself and others around me better. That's one reason I worked on my free throws this summer. I didn't want to let people down if the game came down to foul shots.
"I don't like having weaknesses for others to prey on. If I kept shooting free throws poorly, then teams might keep fouling me to try and save points on the board. Now, teams might think twice before fouling since I've tried hard to improve that aspect of my game."
Inglese has found Gottstein's enthusiasm for improvement infectious. "She has a contagious work ethic that makes her and everyone around her better. She's unpredictable on the court. She always going after loose balls and crashing the boards for rebounds. That's one of the strongest parts of her game."
Her position coach, assistant Bill Gould, has found his job a lot easier since she has joined the program.
"From a coaching point of view, she makes my job a lot easier. She is a kid who brings her heart and soul to the practice court and only wants to get better. And then get better again.
"I like to say that she's the female version of (former Celtics great) Dave Cowens," Gould continues. "She's an undersized post player who busts her butt on the court and does everything she's supposed to. She's a great team player that makes everyone around her better.
"She is so committed to getting better that when we came home from Tennessee this season [from a game Gottstein missed with a broken hand], I heard noise coming from Power Gym when I was up in my office. Knowing Becky, it would not have surprised me if it had been her. When I went down to check, it wasn't her. But, it would not have shocked to find her in there shooting around."
Even her strength and conditioning coach, John Whitesides, has seen Gottstein's determination at work. "She is a tireless worker: in the weight room, in off-season workouts, on the team runs. She is a workhorse and does everything it takes to get better. It doesn't matter what it takes to get better, she's ready to give the effort."
THE PRESENT
The 2000-01 season started with a lot of promise. A preseason ranking of 22 by the nation's coaches and a proven corps of returning players, joined by a talented group of newcomers, fostered good feelings around the Heights. But then a series of events kicked off that has now left the team with a sub-.500 record for the first time in four seasons.
Mackie tore her ACL in a preseason practice, Stepherson suffered multiple muscle strains to her surgically repaired knee and then Gottstein went down with not one, but two sprained ankles as well as a broken hand. Besides dealing with the loss of the team's two mainstays from the previous two seasons, Bouchard and Murphy, the team now had to deal with the loss of three of its new leaders right off the bat to start the season.
"We knew coming in this season that losing Cal and Murph would be huge," Gottstein said. "We also weren't sure about Breezy and her knee. But then to lose Kim, who's probably our best post defender, was really big.
"My class has never really experienced losing. We came here and we won right away and went to the NCAA tournament. This season has been a learning experience. The team's character has come through. There are some games where we are struggling, but no one ever gives up and no one puts her head down. The whole teams always feels we have every chance in the world to win each and every game, no matter what the score is."
One main reason for that optimism is Gottstein's play. She has posted double figures in all but three of the games she has played in and has led the team in rebounding in most of the games as well.
Coming back to the lineup after recovering from her broken hand suffered on Dec. 5, the day before the Tennessee game, Gottstein pumped in 23 points off the bench against Buffalo and added 12 rebounds. She has posted double-doubles in points and rebounds in six games this season, four times against ranked teams. Included in that total is a 20-point, 16-rebound performance against No. 12 Rutgers while playing all 45 minutes in a thrilling overtime loss in Piscataway, N.J.
"We have nothing to lose this season," Gottstein admits. "Though our record might not show it, the team has been playing well this season. We just have not been getting the right breaks. But we are in every game and we are capable of beating any team on any night. We played almost every team ranked in the top five this season and we've played them close.
"We have learned so much this season," Gottstein said. "We are taking lessons from every game and we have reached some of our goals. The lessons we are learning will make us even better next season."
THE FUTURE AND BEYOND
"I don't like looking ahead past this season, but I'm am already so excited for next season," Gottstein said. "We'll have Kim and Breezy back. The freshman will be a year older and more experienced and a year more mature. We'll also have some great teams to play against and hopefully have a chance to avenge some losses, too."
With just a few games left this season and a full schedule waiting next season, Gottstein is still far from done at BC. She will come close to 1,000 career points this season and has the opportunity to become the only player in BC history to record both 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds before her time at the Heights is over. She has had 11 games where she has scored 20 or more points in a game over her career. She has also accomplished this missing 18 of the Eagles' 86 games with injuries in her first three years.
There is also another little goal of hers next season: earning a plane ticket to San Antonio, Texas for the last weekend in March - a trip to the Final Four.
"I've said that our team will be so good next season and some people have looked at me as if I had two heads," Gottstein said. "The first step is believing in ourselves and we all honestly believe that we can get to the Final Four next season. Look how we've played the best teams in the country this season and then look how shorthanded we've been.
"If everyone is healthy, we can go as far as we believe we can. Coach has this program headed in the right direction. We know what it's like to lose now and we don't like it. Next season will show that."
A lofty goal, but with the effort and determination that she has shown in her career so far, there is little doubt that Gottstein won't make every effort to earn that ticket to Texas.
But next year will also be Gottstein's last at the Heights. She plans to keep basketball in her life for as long as possible.
"Basketball is my only true love. I want to try to play as long as possible," Gottstein said. "With the WNBA growing, and if I continue to work hard, then maybe I'll have the chance to try my game there. It's a growing league. It gives players a lot more options to turn to after college. Now women don't necessarily have to go to Europe to keep playing. Maybe in a year or two, Boston will have a team."
But that's getting too far ahead for Gottstein. She has more pressing matters at hand. She has a season to finish and a possible postseason NIT bid to capture. She also has another summer at the Heights to improve some more. With her inspired play this season and a renewed dedication to getting better, Gottstein will help lead the Eagles back into the national spotlight next season, if not at the end of this season.
It shouldn't surprise many if she is able to bring the team back in the last few games of the season. Gottstein has yet to be the average 6'1" BIG EAST forward in her first three years. She has been, by far, an above average 6'1" forward.
