HILLSBORO, Kan. – We will take a break in our Tabor College Football History series for a bit to focus on a different part of the athletic department for this week's Flashback Friday. 
 
Tabor College is well known for its Women's Basketball program, largely due to their recent success. While intercollegiate athletics for women were not emphasized until the late 1970s and early 1980s, Lady Bluejay Basketball has been around since the early 1960s. 
 
The 1960-61 and 1961-62 seasons are two of the first recorded Women's Basketball seasons in school history. The 1960-61 season scores and schedule were found in an old scorebook, retrieved by Peggy Goertzen from the Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies, and the 1961-62 season scores and schedule were found courtesy of the Tabor College Athletic Archives. 
 
The Lady Bluejays first met longtime rival Bethel College on the hardwood back in 1961, where TC fell to the Threshers, 69-54. Standout forward Carol Wiebe recorded a massive 35 points game, with 16 made field goal attempts. Tabor recorded a 6-4 record in what is quite possibly the first varsity season for the Lady Bluejays, earning wins over Sterling College, McPherson College, Central College (now Central Christian), and Bethany College.
 
In the 1961-62 season, Tabor recorded a 5-5 record, earning wins over Central, McPherson, and Sterling. The season culminated in an appearance in a tournament hosted by Bethel, which saw the Bluejays drop their first game to Sterling and follow that up with their third win of the season over Central.
 
Mary Lou Epp, Arlene Schroeder, LeEsther Funk, Martha Kroeker, Jean Fadenrecht, Phyllis Dick, Sue Neufeld, Sharon Regier, Sylvia Schroeder, Carol Wiebe, and Helen Pankratz made up the 1960-61 roster, while Epp, Dick, Fadenrecht, and Wiebe were joined by LaDonna Huebert, Linda Reimer, Ruth Sawatsky, Loraine Penner, Lorraine Greenwood, Sharon Cornelson, Janet Neufeld, Karen Neufeld, Ruby Nikkel, and Deborah Reimer the following year.
 
Now, over 65 years later, the Lady Bluejays play almost 20 more games and score more points than that of the teams in the past, but those first teams will forever be remembered as pioneers and catalysts for a program that has contended for KCAC titles year after year it seems.
 
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The Tabor College Sports Information Department is showcasing former athletes and/or their respective teams throughout the 2024-25 school year in the new Flashback Friday series. The goal of this series is to bring recognition to the alumni that helped build the Bluejay Athletic Department into what it is today, as well as to create excitement for the current athletic programs here at Tabor.
 
Be sure to stay up to date with all information regarding Bluejay Athletics by following us on X at @gotaborbluejays, on Instagram and Facebook @taborbluejays, and on our official athletic website, taborbluejays.com.
 
Tabor College is a Christ-centered institution located in Hillsboro, Kansas. The Bluejays are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and compete in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC).