Hall of Fame
Kelley Ryan Mistretta ’95 starred during her three seasons with the Washington & Jefferson women’s basketball team. After missing her freshman year due to an injury, the St. Francis Academy High School graduate took the Presidents’ Athletic Conference by storm and scored 991 points, grabbed 306 rebounds and dished out 186 assists over her three collegiate years. She became one of only eight players in school history to be selected as the PAC Most Valuable Player after finishing the 1994-95 season 25th in NCAA Division III in scoring with an average of 20.7 points per game.
The left-handed guard also provided averages of 6.2 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 2.5 assists during the year. Mistretta led the conference in scoring and steals and helped W&J make its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament. Mistretta notched 18 points, five rebounds and two assists in the Presidents’ first-round loss to Capital in the NCAA Tournament. On Feb. 15, 1995, Mistretta set the school record for three-pointers made in a game (now tied for second in the record books) with seven during a 90-52 rout of Frostburg State at the Henry Memorial Center.
During the 1993-94 season, Mistretta averaged 15.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.6 steals per game as the Presidents captured their first-ever Presidents’ Athletic Conference and ECAC Division III Tournament championships. A 1994 All-PAC choice, Mistretta fired in 16 points, while adding five steals and four assists during a 79-73 ECAC semifinal win over Dickinson before supplying 12 points, four assists and two steals in an 87-73 championship-clinching win against Moravian.
The 1993-94 team was ranked as high as fifth in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Rankings, the highest in school history to that point. Washington & Jefferson amassed a 52-17 record in Ryan’s three letter winning seasons, including a 19-5 mark in conference play.
