Roger S. Penske/Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame
Liz Feeley
- Induction:
- 2000
- Class:
- 1987
The 1982-83 season marked the beginning of a new era of women's basketball at Lehigh as new head coach, Muffet McGraw, took over and several very talented players were recruited to play on South Mountain. One of those players was Liz Feeley.
During Feely's career, Lehigh won 71 games while losing only 31. Lehigh set back-to-back school records for wins, accumulating 20 in the 1984-85 season and 24 during the 1985-86 campaign. The 1985-86 team won the school's first-ever women’s basketball East Coast Conference Championship finishing with a 24-4 record.
In the middle of all the success was a dedicated and determined Feeley.
“Liz was the most competitive player that I have ever coached,” said former Lehigh and current Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw. She would take charges, dive for loose balls and do whatever it took to win. She was physical and aggressive, and she was a coach's dream. Liz worked hard at practice every day and had a passion for the game. Liz had a winner's attitude, was a great captain and leader, and most of all she was a great teammate and a great person.”
A four-year letterwinner in basketball and two-year letterwinner in softball, Feeley scored 1,275 points in her career and pulled down 571 rebounds. Those marks at the time were the second-most in school history. Through the 2016-17 season, Feeley’s scoring total still ranked 12th on the all-time scoring list. As of 2017, Feeley still held the single game record for points with 37 against Bucknell in 1986, and established a then-single-season record for field goals made (219). But the Worcester, Massachusetts native was more than just a scorer. She made every player around her better, dishing out 276 career assists, and her 195 career steals still ranked sixth all-time as of 2017.
Feeley earned East Coast Conference First-Team honors and All-Tournament team honors in 1985-86.
“It is a special honor to be selected for induction into the Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame,” Feeley said. “Just looking at the names of the other inductees makes it very special. I'll always remember playing at Grace Hall because it had so much character. I learned a lot during my four years at Lehigh. Balancing athletics and academics was a very important lesson I learned. I also learned so much from my coach, Muffet McGraw. She is such a great coach and has such knowledge of the game of basketball.”
Feeley’s career continued after her graduation from Lehigh. She served as an assistant coach at Notre Dame for the 1987-88 season where the Fighting Irish won 20 games and then at Cornell in the same capacity the following season. Feeley then returned home and served as an assistant coach at Holy Cross from 1989-92 where she was part of an undefeated regular-season squad that received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and won two games once there. In 1992 Feeley was hired as the head coach at Colgate, a position she held for three years until being named the head coach at Princeton in 1995. As head coach of the Tigers, Feeley led Princeton to a 20-win season and NIT berth as well as to an Ivy League title in 1998-99. She became the head coach at Smith College in 2000 where she remained through the 2006-07 season. She currently serves as the Director of Development and Alumnae Relations at Stoneleigh-Burnham School in Massachusetts.
Feeley graduated from Lehigh in 1987 with a bachelor's in English and a minor in biology.
During Feely's career, Lehigh won 71 games while losing only 31. Lehigh set back-to-back school records for wins, accumulating 20 in the 1984-85 season and 24 during the 1985-86 campaign. The 1985-86 team won the school's first-ever women’s basketball East Coast Conference Championship finishing with a 24-4 record.
In the middle of all the success was a dedicated and determined Feeley.
“Liz was the most competitive player that I have ever coached,” said former Lehigh and current Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw. She would take charges, dive for loose balls and do whatever it took to win. She was physical and aggressive, and she was a coach's dream. Liz worked hard at practice every day and had a passion for the game. Liz had a winner's attitude, was a great captain and leader, and most of all she was a great teammate and a great person.”
A four-year letterwinner in basketball and two-year letterwinner in softball, Feeley scored 1,275 points in her career and pulled down 571 rebounds. Those marks at the time were the second-most in school history. Through the 2016-17 season, Feeley’s scoring total still ranked 12th on the all-time scoring list. As of 2017, Feeley still held the single game record for points with 37 against Bucknell in 1986, and established a then-single-season record for field goals made (219). But the Worcester, Massachusetts native was more than just a scorer. She made every player around her better, dishing out 276 career assists, and her 195 career steals still ranked sixth all-time as of 2017.Feeley earned East Coast Conference First-Team honors and All-Tournament team honors in 1985-86.
“It is a special honor to be selected for induction into the Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame,” Feeley said. “Just looking at the names of the other inductees makes it very special. I'll always remember playing at Grace Hall because it had so much character. I learned a lot during my four years at Lehigh. Balancing athletics and academics was a very important lesson I learned. I also learned so much from my coach, Muffet McGraw. She is such a great coach and has such knowledge of the game of basketball.”
Feeley’s career continued after her graduation from Lehigh. She served as an assistant coach at Notre Dame for the 1987-88 season where the Fighting Irish won 20 games and then at Cornell in the same capacity the following season. Feeley then returned home and served as an assistant coach at Holy Cross from 1989-92 where she was part of an undefeated regular-season squad that received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and won two games once there. In 1992 Feeley was hired as the head coach at Colgate, a position she held for three years until being named the head coach at Princeton in 1995. As head coach of the Tigers, Feeley led Princeton to a 20-win season and NIT berth as well as to an Ivy League title in 1998-99. She became the head coach at Smith College in 2000 where she remained through the 2006-07 season. She currently serves as the Director of Development and Alumnae Relations at Stoneleigh-Burnham School in Massachusetts.
Feeley graduated from Lehigh in 1987 with a bachelor's in English and a minor in biology.
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