Having played competitive basketball for the last ten years. Koziara plans next year to subordinate the game to graduate study or a full-time job. A finalist in Rhodes Scholar competition within her home state of Massachusetts this year, she has carried an A-average through Dartmouth and looks forward to a career in market research.
For Yaffe--or anyone else--to match Koziara's accomplishments in the Ivies would astound most fans. Koziara won the Ivy Player of the Year award the last two years and should be a shoe-in again this season.
"I guess it's not as difficult to have that pressure on me as it would have been a few years ago." Yaffe says. "I'm used to having a lot of competition."
Yaffe stands 5'10", taller than most of the opposition but not quite high enough to grab rebounds as regularly as Koziara. With three taller players on the Brown squad. Yaffe plays forward yet still ranks eighth in Ivy rebounding.
Opponents describe Yaffe as a more mobile, team-minded player than Koziara but say she has not developed enough to dominate the way the senior center can.
"Donna steals the ball, she'll drive the lane," says Martin. "She has more talent, but as far as coming up against someone. Gail is a more dominating factor. She's intimidating because of her size."
"Yaffe tends to get frustrated," adds Long, who believes Koziara's experience enables her to exploit her size more effectively.
Yaffe chose to bypass a number of scholarship colleges and take her basketball prowess to Brown, where her high school couch moved a year before she did.
Her coach, Maureen Enos, says, "I know I recruit, and aggressively. I think there's been a major turnaround in schools' willingness to commit funds to women's sports, "she adds.
Yaffe says deciding to pay four years' tuition at Brown centered on her commitment to a career in psychological research, perhaps involving sports psychology.
"There's not much of a future in women's basketball after college, and I think if you can get a good education you should go to that kind of college," she explains.