IMMACULATA, Pa. – Mississippi University for Women men's basketball head coach Dean Burrows loves history and he loves basketball. When the Owls' third-year mentor can combine the two it borders on making him downright giddy.
 
Burrows was familiar with Immaculata University from his previous coaching days in the American East Conference. Add to that the fact that IU is located very close to where Burrows grew up and that got the wheels in motion.
 
Thus, was born the idea of having his The W men's team play Immaculata University's men as an homage to both university's rich women's basketball history. The game is on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. CT at Immaculata, Pa., in Alumnae Hall.
 
While the gender is different, if you just switch around each institution's name slightly – reverting MUW to its former Mississippi State College for Women (MSCW) and having Immaculata go back to College (instead of University) – you can begin to conjure up the images in your mind from more than 50 years ago when the Blues (as MUW athletes were known back then) and the Mighty Macs reigned as two of the top women's basketball programs in the entire nation.
 
The two institutions have had similar histories. Both began as an all-women's school; both eventually became co-ed; and both suffered athletics facility tragedies along the way: Immaculata lost its gymnasium to a fire, while The W had a tornado wipe out its home court.
 
Both of these teams were also foundational for the growth of college women's basketball. In 1970-71, the year before the AIAW even came into existence and before Title IX, MSCW won the national championship in the forerunner to the AIAW and NCAA tournaments: the National Invitational Women's Basketball Championship Tournament.
 
As the AIAW became the women's athletics standard bearer the following year, Immaculata began its run of three consecutive national titles (in 1972, 1973, and 1974). Their inspirational story was made into a feature-length theatrical movie called The Mighty Macs and released by Sony Pictures in 2011.
 
The last head-to-head meeting between these two schools – in any sport – was in that 1972 AIAW national championship tourney on March 13, 1972 at Illinois State in Normal, Ill. It was in a semi-final match won by Immaculate, 46-43.
 
It was also the epic women's basketball powerhouse clash of its day. In today's parlance, it would be on the line of a women's hoops bout between South Carolina and UConn, with a berth in the NCAA I championship game on the line.
 
MSCW could not hold a 24-9 halftime lead against the Mighty Macs' on their eventual run to the title. MSCW would finish fourth in the nation, falling to the 1970 NIWBCT champ Cal State-Fullerton in the third-place game.
 
"I believe it is important for all student-athletes to understand and appreciate the roots of their program," Burrows explained. "Even as we look to grow and adapt today, we always need to remember to honor and respect those who went before us and paved the way. We need to always remember to say 'Thank You,' when we have the chance, to those who make up our athletics heritage."
 
Gameday links for Saturday's The W versus Immaculata game can be found at: owlsathletics.com.