By Jeff Gravley
It takes a lot of success over a lot of years for a coach to reach the
700-win plateau. That explains why only 6 Division One women’s
basketball coaches are members of the elite club. Monday night, NC
State coach Kay Yow collected her 700th career win thanks to an
impressive showing by the Wolfpack...68-51 over Florida State. Coach
Kay’s crew played hard, played relentless and played with passion…a
direct reflection of how their coach is attacking cancer.
A perfect example was Gillian Goring. The 6-foot-7 senior fought
through the flu Monday night to post a team-high 19 points and 12
rebounds. No way was Goring going to yield to the flu when her coach
brings cancer with her to every practice and every game. The Hall of
Fame coach missed 2 months to continue her personal fight against
cancer but since Yow’s return, NC State is 4-0. That is not a
coincidence. Pack players say they are carrying “an internal
motivation” with them.
This has been an incredible year for women’s basketball in the
triangle. Duke and North Carolina are 1-2 in the national poll and NC
State is tied for 3rd in the ACC with last year’s national champion,
Maryland. Neither of these feats would have been possible without Kay
Yow. Monday night the ambassador added another milestone to her Hall
of Fame career. Appropriately, Yow accepted the 700th win “on behalf
of all the former staff, current staff, former players and current
team.” It’s a practice in one of basketball’s key ingredients…
unselfishness.
DIVISION ONE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
THE 700 WIN CLUB (as of February 5)
1-*Pat Summit, Tennessee---934 wins
2-*Jody Conradt, Texas---898 wins
3-*Vivian Stringer, Rutgers---764 wins
4-*Sylvia Hatchell, North Carolina---741 wins
5-Sue Gunter, LSU---708 wins
6-*Kay Yow, NC State---700 wins
(*active)
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