North Carolina State University Athletics
WNBA Finals Have NC State Flavor
8/29/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Aug. 29, 2001
To be sure, NC State women's basketball coach Kay Yow is proud of all the players that have passed through her outstanding program. But it would be safe to say that she'll be feeling an extra sense of pride on Thursday night when four of the very best players she ever coached will participate in game one of the WNBA Finals.
Suiting up for the Charlotte Sting will be guard Andrea Stinson ('91) and center Summer Erb (2000). Trudi Lacey, who played guard for NC State in the early 1980's, is an assistant coach for the Sting.
On the other side of the ledger, Rhonda Mapp ('92) will be a key reserve for the L.A. Sparks when the series opens Thursday night (8 p.m.) at the Charlotte Coliseum.
Ironically, Mapp came to L.A. from Charlotte during the off-season.
Should Charlotte win the title, it would finish off one of the most amazing sports stories of the year. After dropping 10 of its first 11 games to start the season, the Sting somehow battled back to make the playoffs. The incredible turnaround then continued with come-from-behind playoff victories over Cleveland and New York. Since its disastrous 1-10 start, Charlotte has prevailed in 22 of its last 27 games.
Stinson leads the Sting in scoring (14.1 ppg) and is the club's second leading rebounder (4.3).
