As UMass Lowell continues to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the merger between Lowell Tech and Lowell State, the women’s basketball program stands as a powerful example of how persistence, belief and community has helped shape the River Hawks’ identity.

Long before conference titles, packed arenas and an eventual move to Division I, the program was defined by people who were willing to build it from the ground up.

For UMass Lowell Hall of Famer Chris Azzarito ’84, choosing the University of Lowell meant stepping into something still taking shape. A local product from Haverhill, she arrived knowing the program was young, but full of possibility.

Support from leaders like fellow Hall of Famers Denise Legault and Claire Chamberlain was crucial during this early program development to help foster an environment that valued women’s athletics.

“They were always there,” Azzarito said of the legendary women’s athletics administrators and founders of many women’s teams in Lowell, including basketball. “They supported every women’s sport. You felt that someone believed in what you were doing.”

That belief translated to the court. Over her four seasons, Azzarito became a captain, a consistent presence, and eventually the first women’s basketball player in school history to reach 1,000 points.

“I never thought about numbers,” she explained. “I just wanted to be on the court. I didn’t want to come out of the game.”

As a pioneer of the program, Azzarito felt like the team really took its next step when Kathy O’Neill arrived as head coach in 1986. Her first season was difficult, but it also shaped her philosophy for the rest of her career.

Showing up day-in and day-out to get better is exactly what they did, as O’Neill and Galvin helped the team improve from a one-win season to winning its first playoff game the following year against Bridgeport in 1987. 

“All of that work that we put in in the gym paid off,” commented Galvin. “It was great for the women that came after and started to build that core group. I really knew they were going to improve every year.”

That early growth led to a 14-0 run through the 1990-91 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) slate, culminating in the program’s first league championship and bid to the NCAA Tournament.  

“I think the first year that we won 20+ games we were below .500 going into the Christmas holiday,” remembered O’Neill. “We were a little down about that because we thought we had a very good team and thought we were making progress. We played a game at Bryant and we came back to tie it and we just ran away from them in overtime. Then we won our next 17 games and ended up winning the conference tournament. There was a lot of excitement, like ‘wow you made the NCAA Tournament,’ and there certainly was a lot of pride.”

As the years progressed, the program steadily improved. Practices became sharper, recruiting expanded and expectations rose. Eventually, the River Hawks emerged as a conference power with multiple 20-win seasons and postseason successes.

“There was a point where things just started to come together,” O’Neill said. “The players defined the culture we were trying to build – unbelievable teammates, good people, good students. 

After 26 successful seasons at the helm, O’Neill says the outcome of the games were never what defined the program for her.

“It was always about the people,” she shared about 26-year tenure. “The players, the assistants, the staff. That’s mostly what I remember. We were passionate about basketball, but we cared about each other.”

“It wasn’t about one game,” Azzarito echoed. “It was the bus rides, the laughs, the time together. That’s what stays with you.”

Fifty years after the merger, the women’s basketball program remains rooted in those early values. Hard work, togetherness and pride continue to define the program that was once built by generations who believed in what it could become.