COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women's Basketball alum Nancy Rutter was named to the Southeastern Conference 2019 Class of Women's Legends on Thursday, announced by the conference office. Rutter and representatives from each of the 14 SEC institutions will be honored at the 2019 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament, which will be held March 6-10 in Greenville, S.C.
A four-time letterwinner for Mizzou in the 1970s and three-time co-captain (1975-78), Nancy (Rutter) Huerd was an integral part of Mizzou's early women's basketball teams. Rutter saw Mizzou achieve groundbreaking success in her career, as she played on the initial Mizzou women's basketball team in 1974-75, and by the end of her career, her team had finished as conference champions.
Rutter earned Big Eight All-Tournament team honors in back-to-back season in 1977 and 1978, and helped lead Mizzou to a Big Eight Conference Tournament title in 1978. Mizzou was nationally ranked in Rutter's junior and senior campaigns (1976-77 and 1977-78), as she helped lead the Tigers to back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths, back when the NCAA field consisted of 16 teams.
Rutter's name is still etched all over the Mizzou record book, as she still holds the program records for most points on an opponent's floor (40 at Graceland – Jan. 5, 1977), the most free throws made in a career (481 FT) and the most free throws made in a single-season (211 FT, 1976-77). She also ranks second in rebounds per game in a single season (10.2 rpg, 1975-76), second in total rebounds in a single season (356 rebounds, 1976-77), third in career rebounds per game (8.8) and sixth in all-time scoring (1,641 points).
After a highly successful senior campaign in 1977-78, Rutter was selected as a Wade Trophy finalist, the inaugural season for the award. Rutter was Mizzou's second-leading scorer over the season at 14.3 points per game, and led the team in rebounding (8.6 per game) and free throw percentage (.794). Rutter grabbed 274 rebounds in 1977-78, a mark which still ranks eighth all-time at Mizzou for a single season.
Following her time at Mizzou, Rutter played in the Women's Basketball League for the Iowa Comets and the Dallas Diamond from 1978-80. The league was the first women's professional basketball league.
Rutter is a 1991 inductee of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, and a 2018 inductee in the Women's Basketball League Hall of Fame as a recipient of the Trailblazer Award for her time in the WBL.
For all the latest on Mizzou Women's Basketball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team @MizzouWBB (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).