Published: October 16, 2009 12:10 am      

Cal to induct Johnstown High graduate Siembak

Becky Siembak’s impact on the California University of Pennsylvania women’s basketball program was clearly evident during her distinguished playing career.

The Johnstown native’s college hoops resume includes honors as Kodak NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Player of the Year as a junior and a prominent role on a national championship squad as a senior in 2004.

Even though only five years have passed since her graduation from Cal, Siembak made such a mark with the Lady Vulcans that she will be inducted into the university’s athletics hall of fame during a ceremony tonight.

“As I’ve gotten older, looking back and thinking about everything I was a part of, I can’t believe everything that happened to me,” said Siembak, 28, a teacher at Trinity High School in Washington County. “Being a national Division II player of the year, being part of a national championship team. ... Not many people can say they won a national championship. Having one of those things happen would be amazing. Having both of them is unbelievable. I don’t really think many people believed we would do as well as we did. But we did (believe). Our coaches did (believe). We were able to live up to our expectations of ourselves.”

Even before heading to California, Siembak established herself as one of Greater Johnstown High School’s most dominating basketball players. She scored 1,733 career points and grabbed 1,325 rebounds for the Trojans.

“We didn’t have any championship teams when I was there, but we played in the Mid-Alleghenies Conference against Altoona, Hollidaysburg and Bishop Guilfoyle,” Siembak said. “Playing against top-level players like that definitely prepared me for the collegiate level. The Mid-Alleghenies Conference was a tough conference at that time. You were playing against some of the best players in the state. Playing against the better competition helped me be a better player.”

She proved as much on the court. Siembak initially attended Slippery Rock, but transferred to California when then-Rockets coach Darcie Vincent accepted the head coaching job with the Vulcans. A 5-foot-11 power forward, Siembak scored 2,019 career points with the Rock and Cal combined. At the time, she was only the seventh player in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference to reach 2,000 points.

As a junior at Cal, Siembak averaged 18 points and 10.2 rebounds a game on a 33-2 team that advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four. She earned Kodak Division II Player of the Year in 2002-03. As a senior the next season, Siembak was on a 35-1 team that beat Drury, 75-72, in the Division II title game at the St. Joseph (Mo.) Civic Center. That Cal team had several go-to players. Siembak gladly accepted a new role.

“It was definitely different,” she recalled. “My junior year I was looked to as if I needed to produce for our team to be successful. My senior year everybody peaked. Even though I was in the spotlight my junior year I would have traded that to win two national championships. You don’t play team sports to win individual awards.”