Ticha Penicheiro - College Years

College Years

Penicheiro has played for professional clubs since her young teens, although she did not play at the senior level until after she starred in U.S. college basketball at Old Dominion University. Ticha played at Old Dominion from 1994–98 and helped lead the Lady Monarchs to the 1997 NCAA Championship game. In 1997, Penicheiro was named to the Final Four All Tournament team. During her playing time at ODU, Penicheiro collected 1,304 career points and finished her career as ODU's all-time steal leader with 591. She is second all-time at ODU on the career assist list to another ODU great Nancy Lieberman with 939. She is the Colonial Athletic Association's all-time leader in both assists and steals.

Penicheiro is a two-time Kodak All-American, selected in 1997 and 1998. She became ODU's second winner of the prestigious Lifetime/Wade Trophy and the first international player to win the honor. A four-time All-CAA honoree, Ticha was named the conference's Player-of-the Year in 1995-96 and 1996-97 while also claiming the Rookie of the Year award in 1994-95. She graduated from Old Dominion in 1998 with degrees in communications and interdisciplinary studies, and was inducted into the ODU Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.