She led the Mighty Macs to six consecutive final four appearances in her six seasons with the school, attaining a 149–15 record.

[5] The Mighty Macs, a movie about the season leading to the winning of the first women's national basketball championship in 1972, was released in October 2011.

She played basketball for the high school team, and despite being a freshman, won the county scoring title.

[8] Rush decided to attend West Chester State College in nearby Pennsylvania, majoring in physical education.

[9] After college, she accepted a coaching position at Springfield High School in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

When the teacher on sabbatical returned, she accepted a position at General Wayne Junior High in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

[11][12] Ed T. Rush also attended West Chester University, but graduated in 1964,[13] the year before Cathy arrived.

[7][15] While Rush was at General Wayne Junior High, the coaching opportunity became available at Immaculata, an all-girls Catholic school with an enrollment of 400 students.

[19] Yet Rush saw the positives, "It seemed like the perfect job – low key, no pressure, and a way to stay busy during the winter while my husband, Ed, was traveling.

[21] her husband Ed, jokes, "That's the Immaculata fastbreak: good defense, rebound, outlet pass, and then dodge the kids on the way up the court.

"[22] One of her strongest players was Theresa Shank (who would go on to a coaching career that earned her a spot in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame).

When they didn't arrive for warm ups, Rush was initially angry, but as time passed, she became concerned.

[23] With Shank now available, the team won all twelve of their regular season games, and earned a spot in the Regional Tournament.

The team organized raffles to sell toothbrushes to raise enough money for the trip to Illinois State University.

Without any time off, they played the semifinal round against MSCW, who had won the national championship the prior year.

The Macs won a close game 52–48, and a pregnant Cathy Rush was the head coach of the first AIAW National Champions.

After the team won the national championship, George Heaslip, the sports editor of the Daily Local News, wrote, "One thing, for sure.

Her father owned a hardware store, and provided some buckets which some of the parents and the nuns, banged on with wooden dowels to make noise.

The venue had a seating capacity of 3,000, Some thought the 1972 run had been a fluke, but the repeat performance was convincing fans the Immaculata team was very good.

[31] The win completed the first undefeated season in US college women's basketball history, and the second consecutive National Championship for Immaculata.

In 1975, they again earned a spot in the national tournament, and reached the final game against Delta State, coached by Margaret Wade and featuring one of the best players in basketball history Lusia Harris.

[33] The Delta State fans had responded to the Bucket Brigade by acquiring wooden blocks as their own noisemakers.

Unfortunately, what started as good fun turned ugly, with tempers flaring and some participants throwing dowels and blocks.

[34] When the Immaculata parents, following their tradition, brought their buckets to the game to act as noisemakers, they were met by a court order.

Delta State had managed to convince a judge to issue a legal writ to bar noisemakers from the game.

Although finishing fourth in the nation was a significant accomplishment, the impact of Title IX was allowing many schools to offer scholarships to the best players.

Rush decided to retire to raise her family, and left active coaching with a record of 149-15 for a winning percentage of 91%.

[28][32] The USA Basketball team had had success in the Pan American games with gold medals in 1955,1959, and 1963, but had come in second place in both 1967 and 1971.

[22][32] Before Rush decided to retire from active coaching, she and her husband Ed started a summer basketball camp.

[40] Many notable coaches worked as counselors at some of these camps, including Geno Auriemma and Muffet McGraw.