Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Two years ago, Carol Madsen-Miller attended Xavier's two women's NCAA Tournament home games. She was awed by the atmosphere - more than 6,500 fans each night in the sparkling new Cintas Center.

What followed was a long-overdue realization of her role in XU's rise.

As Carol Madsen, she was the player who turned around a woeful program from 1992-94. She led XU to its first NCAA Tournament appearance and helped it lay a foundation for the successes of the Melanie Balcomb era.

"I don't think things are a big deal until I reflect on it," Madsen-Miller said. "Sometimes it takes me years."

Madsen-Miller, 32, ranks No. 4 on the school's scoring list. But her 1,702 points came in three seasons - she played her first season at Purdue - and her 19.3-point scoring average at XU is a school record.

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The Reading High product, now a fourth-grade teacher at Cottonwood Elementary in Finneytown, also averaged 5.2 rebounds in her XU career. The Musketeers, who were 14-13 the season before she became eligible - and averaged just 6.5 victories during the six seasons prior - averaged 20 victories in her three seasons and reached the 1993 NCAAs.

Madsen-Miller still holds the single-game record of 46 points, set her senior season against La Salle, and her teams went 3-0 against archrival Cincinnati. She was a two-time Midwestern Collegiate Conference player of the year.

Women's pro basketball didn't exist in the United States then, and Madsen-Miller didn't seriously consider a couple of offers overseas. When the WNBA began play in 1997, she thought of trying out but scrapped that after learning she was pregnant with her daughter, Maria, now 5. Her son, Johnny, is 4. Madsen-Miller coached the Finneytown High girls for six seasons before her kids were born. She referees youth basketball on weekends and plays in a women's summer league that includes many other XU products.

She coaches her daughter's kindergarten/first-grade team in Reading.

"I might get back into (high school) coaching when the kids are older," she said.