TOLEDO, Ohio — The Toledo Rocket women are getting ready to face No. 8 Buffalo in the MAC Quarterfinals tomorrow in Cleveland. If they win, they will be off to the semifinals this Friday, March 10.
They will be led by longtime head coach Tricia Cullop.
In honor of Women's History Month, WTOL 11 sat down with Coach Cullop to talk about women who have inspired her along her career.
First and foremost, Cullop said, is her mother.
"I had it tougher than what my mom did," said Cullop. "My mom was during the pre-Title IX era, and there weren't opportunities for her to play sports. Things were more available to me, opportunities were there, and my mother was so excited that we had those opportunities that she made sure that we did them."
Cullop also said her head coach at Purdue, Lin Dun, was an inspiration.
"You know, my college coach coached during an era where teams weren't given the same things as men," said Cullop. "The locker rooms were not even close. Travel was not even close. I'm sure many times, she paid things out of her own pocket so that her team could have things that they needed to win."
Coach Cullop began as the women's head coach at UT in 2008. She holds the most wins as the women's basketball head coach in the university's history.
Cullop received the 2022 WBCA Carol Eckman Integrity in Coaching Award and is the former president of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.