Oct. 21, 2005
Courtsey of The Sacramento Bee
From crunch time to munch time. In a first for Sacramento sports and women's basketball, "The Breakfast of Champions" will honor the WNBA champion Monarchs, who appear on a commemorative Wheaties box to be distributed nationally for a two-week period later this month. The second Wheaties box with any WNBA tie-in, this edition is the first to honor a whole championship team and boasts the team portrait of all 13 Monarchs, their coaches and staff.
The championship Monarchs featured two former Old Dominion greats, Ticha Penicheiro and Hamchetou Magia.
Penicheiro held the Lady Monarchs to a 119-14 overall record, a 61-1 CAA record, four consecutive CAA crowns, and an appearance in the 1997 National Championship Game. She collected 1,304 career points over 133 games and finished her career as Old Dominion's all-time steal leader and secodn on the all-time assist board behind only fellow All-American Nancy Lieberman. A two-time Kodak All-American, Penicheiro became Old Dominion's second winner of the prestigious Wade Trophy and the first international player to win the hnor. A four-time All-CAA honoree, she was named the CAA Player of the Year twice and the Rookie of the Year her first season doning the Lady Monarch uniform.
Magia, who was known as "Tanty", helped the Blue and Silver to a 106-24 overall, a 65-1 CAA record, four straight CAA titles, and an appearance at the "Elite Eight" in 2002. She was voted the CAA Player of the Year in 2001 and was a three-time All-CAA selection, a CAA All-Defensive Team honoree, and Honorable Mention All-America by The Basketball Times. During her career she averaged 11.4 points and 6.8 rebounds and ranks 14th on the all-time scoring leaders list with 1,483 career points. Maiga was also a dean's list student and a CAA Scholar-Athlete.