Bowling Green State University Athletics
BG Athletics Celebrates Black History Month: Paulette Backstrom
February 18, 2016 | General, Women's Basketball, Hall of Fame
Throughout the month of February, BGSUFalcons.com will be highlighting some of those who have impacted the University, the community and the athletics department. From pioneers to more recent members of the department, Matt Markey will be providing the stories of our history. Today's feature story highlights Falcon baseball player Jerome Kynard. Fans can review all previous feature stories through our Black History Month landing page by CLICKING HERE.
Paulette Backstrom grew up in the basketball hotbed of Flint, where she was part of one of the strongest high school hoops programs in the state of Michigan, helping her Flint Northwestern team go 55-1 over a two-season stretch, and claim two state championships.
When she came to Bowling Green, Backstrom continued that run of basketball excellence, but did it in a very dissimilar atmosphere.
"I came from a predominantly African-American high school, and grew up in a 99-percent African-American neighborhood, so Bowling Green was very different for me, but not in a negative way," she said. "It was just a lot different surroundings from what I had been accustomed to for most of my life."
Backstrom, who played for the Falcons from 1985-89, said that once the initial adjustment period was over, she found that Bowling Green was a place where she would be quite comfortable.
"My roommate was white and I had friendships with other white people on campus, so I think I just adapted to the environment I was in, and I enjoyed the exposure to different people," she said. "Maybe my experience was a little out of the ordinary because I was an athlete and a member of a team, but race wasn't an issue for me while I was at Bowling Green."
During her days at BGSU, Backstrom was part of one of the most talented groups to ever play for the Falcons. Along with classmates Jackie Motycka and Megan McGuire, and Angie Bonner who was a year behind that trio, they led the Falcons to three straight Mid-American Conference tournament titles.
"We were just a lot of good players from different backgrounds and different situations, but we blended well and we became a very good team," she said.
In the 1986-87 season, the group ran the table in the MAC schedule for the first time in Bowling Green history, and then did it again two years later. Backstrom said the team's chemistry neutralized any differences the players' might have had when they arrived at Bowling Green.
"I had teammates who were not African-American, but there was really no difficulty. We were a very close team – we not only played basketball together, we were very close-knit outside of basketball, too."
In Backstrom's senior year, she was named first team all-conference, she helped the Falcons win a third consecutive MAC tournament title, and she was named MVP of the league tournament before being part of a historic win over Cincinnati in the NCAA Tournament. Backstrom added to that shelf full of honors with the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, which goes to the best female player in the nation under 5-foot-6. She established a school record for assists in conference play with 124 her senior year, and finished her career with 559 assists, the second-most in BGSU history.
"It was a busy time, and a very rewarding time," said Backstrom, who lives in her native Michigan and works as a human resources senior manager for a telecommunications provider.
Backstrom was inducted into the BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995.
Paulette Backstrom grew up in the basketball hotbed of Flint, where she was part of one of the strongest high school hoops programs in the state of Michigan, helping her Flint Northwestern team go 55-1 over a two-season stretch, and claim two state championships.
When she came to Bowling Green, Backstrom continued that run of basketball excellence, but did it in a very dissimilar atmosphere.
"I came from a predominantly African-American high school, and grew up in a 99-percent African-American neighborhood, so Bowling Green was very different for me, but not in a negative way," she said. "It was just a lot different surroundings from what I had been accustomed to for most of my life."
Backstrom, who played for the Falcons from 1985-89, said that once the initial adjustment period was over, she found that Bowling Green was a place where she would be quite comfortable.
"My roommate was white and I had friendships with other white people on campus, so I think I just adapted to the environment I was in, and I enjoyed the exposure to different people," she said. "Maybe my experience was a little out of the ordinary because I was an athlete and a member of a team, but race wasn't an issue for me while I was at Bowling Green."
During her days at BGSU, Backstrom was part of one of the most talented groups to ever play for the Falcons. Along with classmates Jackie Motycka and Megan McGuire, and Angie Bonner who was a year behind that trio, they led the Falcons to three straight Mid-American Conference tournament titles.
"We were just a lot of good players from different backgrounds and different situations, but we blended well and we became a very good team," she said.
In the 1986-87 season, the group ran the table in the MAC schedule for the first time in Bowling Green history, and then did it again two years later. Backstrom said the team's chemistry neutralized any differences the players' might have had when they arrived at Bowling Green.
"I had teammates who were not African-American, but there was really no difficulty. We were a very close team – we not only played basketball together, we were very close-knit outside of basketball, too."
In Backstrom's senior year, she was named first team all-conference, she helped the Falcons win a third consecutive MAC tournament title, and she was named MVP of the league tournament before being part of a historic win over Cincinnati in the NCAA Tournament. Backstrom added to that shelf full of honors with the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, which goes to the best female player in the nation under 5-foot-6. She established a school record for assists in conference play with 124 her senior year, and finished her career with 559 assists, the second-most in BGSU history.
"It was a busy time, and a very rewarding time," said Backstrom, who lives in her native Michigan and works as a human resources senior manager for a telecommunications provider.
Backstrom was inducted into the BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995.
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