Austgulen, Hollingsworth, Bryant receive spots on CAA’s silver anniversary team

The most fiercely combative player in Virginia Commonwealth University women's basketball history, VCU's lone WNBA first-round draft choice and the player who led the University of Richmond to its first NCAA tournament appearance have one thing in common today.

All have been certified sterling by the Colonial Athletic Association.

VCU standouts Kristine Austgulen and Quanitra Hollingsworth and Spiders icon Pam Bryant Jordan were among 25 players named yesterday by the CAA to its 25th anniversary women's basketball team.

The Richmond-based CAA, launched in 1985, is celebrating its arrival at the quarter-century milestone by saluting the top 25 players in each of its 21 sports. The women's basketball team was chosen by a panel of current and former league coaches.

Austgulen, a 6-0 forward, constructed a banner career while playing at VCU from 2000-03. She scored 1,572 points, fourth on the Rams' all-time list, and grabbed 799 rebounds, third all-time. She was chosen not only as the CAA player of the year, but as an academic All-American in 2003. A banner acknowledging the retirement of her jersey hangs today from the Siegel Center rafters.

Her coach, David Glass, remembered Austgulen as a relentless competitor who made up for what she lacked in skill with passion.

Glass said Austgulen "had limited quickness and couldn't jump. But she was an incredible competitor. She was fearless. She had a mentality that said, 'Whatever it takes, that's what I'm going to do.' She'd scratch and claw your eyes out to get a rebound."

Hollingsworth, a 6-5 post player, arrived at VCU as a 15-year-old academic prodigy and departed last May as a first-round draft choice of the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx. In between, she became VCU's second-most prolific scorer (1,523 points) and its leader in career rebounds (1,114). She led the Rams to their first NCAA tournament appearance as a senior.

Rams coach Beth Cunningham said Hollingsworth, arguably the most heralded recruit in Rams history, bore a significant burden with uncommon grace.

From the moment Hollingsworth arrived, Cunningham said, she was "the face of the program. That's hard. I don't think people understand exactly how hard. It's tough enough to deal with that kind of responsibility when you're 18. But when you're 15? That's amazing."

Former UR coach Stephanie Gaitley called Bryant, a whirlwind of a guard, "the player who put Richmond women's basketball on the map."

Bryant, who played at UR from 1987-90, ranks third in career points (1,766), fourth in steals (224) and eighth in assists (322).

The two-time CAA player of the year led the Spiders to a CAA tournament title and an NCAA appearance as a senior.

The silver anniversary team was dominated, predictably, by Old Dominion, which won 17 consecutive conference championships between 1992 and 2008. Eleven of the 25 positions were filled by ODU players.

VCU joined the CAA in 1995. The Spiders departed for the Atlantic 10 in 2001.

Contact Vic Dorr Jr. at (804) 649-6442 or .