Betsy Palecek-Ostrander has been elected to the Northeastern University Hall of Fame for her achievements in the sport of basketball.
Palecek, Class of 2000, led her 1998-99 team to the only NCAA Tournament appearance ever by an NU women's basketball team. She came to Northeastern from Carmel High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she set school season and career rebounding records and was voted All-Conference team and the state's All-Tournament team. As a senior she captained the team.
In Palecek's freshman season of 1995-96, she hit the Solomon Court floor at full speed. She averaged 11.6 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game. During the season she won five America East Rookie of the Week honors and at years end was voted to the All-Rookie team and was named the conference's Rookie of the Year. The team finished 11-16.
The next year, Palecek had the unusual distinction of being elected team captain as just a sophomore. She averaged 10.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game but the team slumped to a 4-23 record.
Elected captain again as a junior, Palecek helped the Huskies slowly turn things around with a 15-13 record. Palecek earned All-Conference honors while averaging 12.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
In Palecek's senior year, everything went right. She scored a career-best 37 points versus archenemy Boston University in a 79-51 victory and went onto average 15.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. The three-time captain would lead the Huskies to a 22-8 season. She scored the final basket in a 59-57 win over Maine to give NU the conference title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Her career point total of 1,243 points and her 538 rebounds would both be good for fifth place in the Husky hierarchy. She was one of only six Huskies when she graduated to be in the top 10 of both scoring and rebounding.
Awards rained down. She was voted All-Conference for the second straight year and District I Academic All-American. She won the Rowlands Award as Northeastern's top senior female scholar-athlete. Most importantly, Palecek graduated Summa Cum Laude as a Biology major.
For the next three years, Palecek worked in medical research at such highly acclaimed hospitals as the Robert Lurie Cancer Center and Joslin Diabetes Center. In 2003 she entered the Stritch School of Medicine of Loyola University of Chicago. She will do her residency in obstetrics and graduate in 2007.
On August 17, 2005, she and her husband, Greg Ostrander, welcomed a daughter, Julia Grace, to the family.
