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 Ģ������ƵStories      December 22, 2025

By Bill Studenc

Three former members of the Ģ������Ƶ women’s basketball team stepped up to the line to tip off the process of raising enough philanthropic support to name the current Catamount squad’s locker room after the founder of the program.

That opening shot has resulted in a resounding “swish,” as that locker room now bears the name of the individual who launched the program during an era when women’s intercollegiate athletics was primarily an afterthought.

The facility was officially christened the Betty Westmoreland Suhre Basketball Locker Room during a ceremony Friday, Dec. 12, in the Liston B. Ramsey Regional Activity Center.

Ģ������Ƶalumnae Nora Lynn Finch, Judy Stroud and Donna Winbon in 2024 made gifts and pledges of $25,000 apiece for a total of $75,000, also urging other former players to contribute to the effort. Additional donations have pushed the amount raised beyond the $100,000 total required by university guidelines to affix the former coach’s name to the space following approval earlier this year by the WCU Board of Trustees.

A two-time alumna of Western Carolina, after graduating, Westmoreland Suhre remained on campus as a faculty member in the Department of Health and Physical Education, where she played a vital role in bringing women’s sports to Cullowhee, said Ģ������ƵChancellor Kelli R. Brown.

“Although the institution had been home to women’s basketball teams over the years, they were not officially recognized by sanctioning organizations such as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics or the National Collegiate Athletic Association,” Brown said. “Betty Westmoreland Suhre helped change that, launching the women’s basketball program in 1964 – and doing so on a shoestring budget.”

Now a Haywood County resident, Westmoreland Suhre would go on to coach a team, then referred to as the Lady Cats, for 14 years while also serving as a physical education faculty member. Under her leadership, the program evolved from independent status to the National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, then NCAA Division II and eventually NCAA Division I.

Her teams never experienced a losing season, with an overall record of 190-89. Her 1969 team finished second in the National Women’s Invitational Basketball Tournament and the 1970 squad finished fourth. During her tenure, Ģ������Ƶ was awarded the right to host the 1971 national women’s tournament.

“Coach Westmoreland Suhre served as president of the state chapter of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women for five years and also served on several national and international basketball sports committees,” Brown said. “She retired after the 1978-79 season and was inducted into the Ģ������ƵAthletics Hall of Fame in 1990.”

Jonathan Tsipis, current coach of the Catamount team, characterized the improvements to his program’s locker room as a momentous day in the history of women’s athletics at WCU.

“I firmly believe that those of us lucky enough to be in the coaching profession today stand on the shoulders of the giants who came before us. That is certainly the case with Coach Betty Westmoreland Suhre, the founder of the women’s basketball team here at WCU,” Tsipis said.

“A lot has changed since those early days. We are now proud to compete as a Division 1 program in the NCAA. We now have regulations designed to ensure equity and fairness for female athletes competing in the intercollegiate arena,” he said.

“Amidst this success, we also face increased competition from other basketball programs in our efforts to recruit and retain top-notch student-athletes in this new era of Name, Image and Likeness deals, the player portal and the ability to transfer to another school that has a bigger alumni base and deeper pockets. Never has the competition for great players been so fierce,” he said.

Facilities upgrades feature new lockers complete with charging stations and LED lighting, and floor-to-ceiling aesthetic finishes including custom flooring. The renovations are a step in the right direction in making sure the WCU’s women’s basketball program has the resources needed to be competitive in the Southern Conference and beyond, Tsipis said.

Donor Nora Lynn Finch, a member of the Ģ������ƵBoard of Trustees, credited Westmoreland Suhre for jumpstarting her 48-year career in women’s athletics, with stops along the way at Wake Forest University, Peace College and N.C. State University, including a stint as associate athletics director for the Wolfpack. Finch served as chair of the NCAA Division I women’s basketball committee for eight years and helped negotiate the first women's basketball tournament TV contract with CBS. Earlier this year, she was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.

Westmoreland Suhre built the Ģ������Ƶprogram from the ground up with limited support and resources in the cozy confines of Breese Gymnasium, said Finch, who credited the former coach for setting her on her career path.

“When Betty first started coaching, she did a lot more than teach. She was the travel agent, bus driver...well, university station wagon driver...equipment manager, trainer, academic adviser, tutor, psychologist, physical therapist, janitor, facility manager and game day administrator,” Finch said.

“Breese had a swimming pool but no whirlpool. It had a locker room, but the visiting team needed it, so we dressed in the dorm and walked, jogged or ran to the games,” she said. “When we played in the very first invitational women's national basketball tournament at West Chester State University, we were the only team there without store-bought uniforms, but we didn't care about things we did not have. We were happy, thrilled, to have the opportunity to compete,” she said.

Now, 55 years later, the coach and former player have reunited to enshrine “…perhaps the most significant women’s athletics facility to date” at WCU, Finch said.

“We are putting a stake in the ground, restating our ownership of the privilege to represent our alma mater, this noble steward of higher learning and even higher service. This modern locker room is worthy of being enshrined in the name of Betty Westmoreland Suhre,” she said.

Westmoreland Suhre expressed her gratitude for the generosity of Finch, Stroud and Winbon and their leadership role in raising funds for renovations to the team’s locker room and for additional donations made by other former players, coaches, fans and community members.

“In 1965, when I was approached by young women who wanted more competition in basketball than intramurals provided, I never dreamed that fielding that team would lead to the success we had – and especially to today,” she said.

“Much has changed since 1965. From roving player to five on five, Ģ������Ƶteams were leaders in moving that change forward,” Westmoreland Suhre said. “These early highly skilled pioneering women sacrificed much so the sport could be where it is today. I could tell you all the sacrifices they made, but they played for love of the game and each other. This recognition is due to their dedication and commitment to representing Ģ������Ƶin a very successful women’s basketball program.”

Contributions made to fund the improvements and name the facility after Suhre are part of the ongoing “Fill the Western Sky’’ comprehensive campaign, an effort to raise a minimum of $100 million for WCU’s academic, student engagement and athletics programs.

The historic effort, only the third comprehensive fundraising campaign in university history, is the first to have a significant focus on garnering philanthropic support for improvements to facilities used by Catamount student-athletes.

While the university has already exceeded the campaign goal ahead of its original timeline, the effort to seek funding for Ģ������Ƶis far from over, said Ben Pendry, vice chancellor for advancement.

“We are keeping the pedal to the metal and continuing to seek additional support for our athletics facilities as well as for our other campaign priorities – academic excellence programs and student engagement initiatives. In addition to the three women who have led the charge for the women’s locker room project, we thank all of our donors who have contributed to the largest and most successful fundraising effort in the 136-year history of this institution,” Pendry said.

Kyle Pifer, director of Catamount athletics, closed the program by thanking Suhre for her founding role in women’s athletics at Ģ������Ƶand expressing appreciation for donors who are making enhancements to athletics facilities possible.

“It’s a great time to be a Catamount,” Pifer said. “The improvements to our facilities being made thanks to the ‘Fill the Western Sky’ fundraising campaign and the increased investment in scholarships for our student-athletes through the Catamount Club are making a huge impact on our ability to provide a first-class experience to those young adults who represent the purple and gold on the fields and courts of competition.”

For more information or to make a contribution to the campaign, visit , call 828-227-7124 or email advancement@wcu.edu.