California University of Pennsylvania Athletics

One of only 15 players in NCAA Division II history with 2,000 career points (2,019) and 1,000 career rebounds (1,203), dominant center Becky Siembak helped Cal U’s women’s basketball team win 68 of 71 games after transferring from Slippery Rock University.

After sitting out the 2001-02 season, Siembak averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds a game during her junior season while shooting 62 percent from the floor. She led the team in four different statistical categories and was selected as the 2003 State Farm/WBCA Division II Player of the Year as well as PSAC West Player of the Year. The first-team national All-American helped the Vulcans compile a school-best 33-2 overall record at the time and advance to the NCAA II National Final Four.

As an encore in 2003-04, Siembak and Cal U became the first and only PSAC team to ever win the NCAA Division II women’s basketball national championship. Cal U rolled to a 35-1 overall record and won a third-straight PSAC West and PSAC championship and consecutive NCAA Division II Regional title. At the NCAA Elite Eight national tourney, Cal U knocked off defending-national champion South Dakota State and Merrimack by 17 and 24 points respectively before edging Drury by three points in the finals. Siembak, who was one of just two Cal U players to start all 36 games, averaged over 14 points and eight rebounds a game. In just two years at Cal, she scored 1,139 points with 651 rebounds and her field-goal percentage was nearly 61 percent (475-of-781). With Siembak, a two-time Regional all-tourney selection, Cal U won 23 of 24 PSAC West games and 10 of 11 NCAA tournament games.

“All the pieces of the puzzle just came together and we just had the right teammates and coaches,” Siembak said. “We all had the right attitude and worked for the one common goal. I can’t believe how fast time goes by and that it has already been five years since I played. I think as I have become older I appreciate more how good we were and what we did.”

Originally from Johnstown, Pa., Siembak was a four-time, first-team all-conference basketball selection at Johnstown High School. She was also a standout volleyball player and the Trojans’ main thrower in track & field.

At Slippery Rock, playing initially for future Cal head coach Darcie Vincent and associate head coach Heather Kearney, Siembak scored 880 points during her first two collegiate years. She was the team’s leading scorer and rebounder both seasons. With Siembak, Slippery Rock compiled a 40-17 two-year cumulative record and 18-6 PSAC West mark.

As a freshman in 1999-2000, Siembak helped Slippery Rock win 23 games and that program’s only NCAA II Regional championship. She received first-team all-conference honors and was named the 2000 PSAC West Rookie of the Year. A year later, Siembak again received first-team all-conference recognition and Slippery Rock was defeated by Cal U and Vincent in the PSAC Quarterfinals.

During her four-year collegiate career, Siembak shot 59 percent from the floor (850-of-1441) and 73.5 percent from the foul line (316-of-430). Understandably she credits Vincent and Kearney for helping her fashion what turned out to be an unprecedented career from both an individual and team standpoint.

“Both are great coaches and I could not have imagined playing for anyone else,” said Siembak. “They were very challenging but pushed us and got things out of us that I know I never thought I would be able to do to become better.”

Siembak and teammate Sameera Philyaw are only the second and third women’s basketball players to be inducted into the Cal U Athletic Hall of Fame in five years and first from the Vincent era. Siembak praised the team for her individual honor and is well aware of the award’s significance.

“It’s really an honor to get this award so quickly in my first year of eligibility,” she said. “I think what our team was able to accomplish is why Sameera and I are getting these award so quickly. It really does mean a lot.”

Always team-oriented, Siembak believes the administrational support was key in the program’s rise as a perennial national power. The Vulcans have won two more NCAA Regional championships since the Siembak era.

“President (Angelo) Armenti and his administration have been very dedicated to athletics and especially women’s basketball,” said Siembak. “They push for the best and we would not have been as good if they did not provide the resources. They were dedicated and the players and coaches were dedicated back so it went both ways.”

The four-time, first-team all-conference player earned her bachelor’s degree in special education from Cal U in 2004 and is an eighth-grade learning support teacher at Trinity Middle School. She was also previously the head girls’ basketball at both Burgettstown and Trinity High Schools. On the court and in the classroom, Siembak has benefited from her three years at Cal U.

“I was very fortunate to have a scholarship that has really prepared for me for the rest of my life,” said Siembak. “I could not imagine having all those student loans just starting my career and I am very thankful and grateful to Cal U for that. The school has played a big part in my career.”

Though her collegiate career concluded in 2004, Siembak is proud of the many noticeable physical changes to the Cal U campus over the past several years.

“It’s beautiful and the university has done such a great job,” she said. “When I come back and look around, it’s a completely different place than it was five years ago. Again this is the administration pushing forward to be the best of the best. They are always changing and looking for ways to make the campus better.”

Siembak is single and resides in Houston, Pa.