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Hall of Fame

Belle Mattingly

  • Class
  • Induction
    1990
  • Sport(s)

Class of 1985
Sport: Basketball
Jersey: #20 

Athletic Accomplishments:

Karen transferred to St. Mary’s after herfreshman year at Towson University. In her three years at St.Mary’s, she was the nucleus and main driving force on thewomen’s basketball team, averaging 18.5 points and 12.2rebounds. She was the second female basketball player, afterTerry Harford ’81 (1999 Hall of Famer), toscore more than 1,000 career points and be inducted into theschool’s 1,000 Point Club. Her achievement was even moreimpressive given she only played three years at St. Mary’s.Karen held the school record for number of career points scored bya female basketball player (1142) from 1985-1996. When she wasinterviewed in 1996 by Kelvin Neely for an Enterprisearticle, she talked about her playing experience this way:“When I played, I played every­where…wedidn’t have a lot of depth. Some nights we’d be luckyto have five people.”

Career Highlights:

For the 1982-83 season, Karen was the teamco-captain; the high scorer in 9 of 19 games played; the leadingrebounder in 14 of 19 games; and the St. Mary’s Athlete ofthe Month three times. She set a single game scoring record of 42points versus University of Baltimore in January 1983. In 1983-84,Karen was the team co-captain; the team high scorer in 18 of 26games; and the leading rebounder in 10 of 26 games. She was chosenas the St. Mary’s Athlete of the Month; selected toChesapeake Women’s Athletic Conference (CWAC) All-Tournamentteam; named the St. Mary’s Female Athlete of the Year; andchosen as the team’s MVP. She also won the Coach’sAward; was cited as one of the top ranked players in the AtlanticRegion in women’s Division III basketball by the NCAA News;and was ranked 10th in women’s Division III basketball inaver­age points scored in a game (21.9). For the 1984-85season, she was the team captain; the leading scorer in 17 of 19games; and the leading rebounder in 10 of 19 games. She scored her1,000th career point in February 1985 during a home game againstGoucher College. She was also named St. Mary’s Athlete of theMonth; selected to the first team, CWAC All-Tournament for thesecond time; named the team’s MVP; chosen as the St.Mary’s Female Athlete of the Year for the second consecutiveyear; and again won the Coach’s Award.

Most Memorable Sports Experience at St.Mary’s:

“My most memorable moment occurred on February2, 1985, the day I scored my thousandth point. What made it sospecial was that both my mom and dad were at the game and watchedas they stopped the game and presented me with the game ball. Thiswas a rare thing for my parents to come, and I have Coach DanHofmeister to thank for making that happen.”

Thoughts on St. Mary’sCollege:

“My experience at St. Mary’s is foreverembedded in my memories. I love the campus, and when I have theopportunity, I come to watch a game occasionally, attend events atreunion weekend, or other special events like Hall of Fame dinners.I also love to come down and run the trails in the Historic St.Mary’s City. One of the other things I remem­ber was thevisits to the Green Door on the way home from a tough loss, or along day on campus.”

Since St. Mary’s:

“I still live in the local area and work at the PatuxentNaval Air Station as a program manager on Naval Aviationacquisitions programs. I enjoy getting to the gym and finding thetime to go for a run a few times a week. My son, Ben is now 18 anda high school graduate."

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