North Carolina State University Athletics
A Moving Experience at Virginia Tech (2/3/09)
2/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
Mark Kimmel is the Media Relations Director for NC State Women’s Basketball.
RALEIGH, N.C. As all of you know the last 10 days has been a trying time for NC State University and the surrounding community with the passing of Wolfpack Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach Kay Yow. Her legendary battle with cancer went on for decades and she will be remembered for both what she accomplished on the court (737 wins) as much as she did off with the creation of the Kay/Yow WBCA Cancer Fund.
As tough as it’s been for the Wolfpack women recently, the season must go on and last weekend the team traveled up to Blacksburg, Va., for a road contest at Virginia Tech on Super Bowl Sunday.
The trip began as usual from Reynolds Coliseum. Bright and early Saturday morning the bus shoved off to Gibsonville, about 70 miles west of here, for the burial ceremony of Coach Yow. Arriving on a brisk, clear morning at Gibsonville Cemetery, the team and support staff paid its respects to Yow among a gathering of a few hundred friends and family.
The team was treated to a wonderful lunch with members of coach Yow’s family in nearby Burlington. Then it was off to Blacksburg for the team’s longest bus trip of the season. Most players and support staff immediately turned on their music and fell asleep. I used the nearly three-hour trip to finish my game notes, with the game being televised at 4 p.m. the next day.
Sunday came early after a delicious dinner at a local favorite Japanese steakhouse that has become a staple on road trips to play the Hokies. Coach Yow loved going to Japanese steakhouses and none of us will ever go to another one without thinking of her.
Having not gained a victory in a month, the Wolfpack was eager to get the game going. We arrived at Cassell Coliseum just over an hour before tip off and the first thing I noticed was the home team wearing pink shooting shirts with Yow draped across each players back and the cancer fund “Y” logo on the front. That is exactly the sort of thing we have seen on the road over the last few years and it really reminds us how special Coach Yow is to so many people.
The Pack wore its road “Pink” jersey for the first time all season, the same uniform last year’s club made famous last February when they were unveiled at Hoops 4 Hope.
Before the game started Virginia Tech head coach Beth Dunkenberger presented a check to our interim head coach Stephanie Glance for $26,190 for the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. A majority of the money was raised the week before, the same day Coach Yow passed away, when the Hokies held its “Chow 4 Yow” fundraiser an auction to have dinner with coach Dunkenberger and her staff.
This was just another reminder of the tight knit community that is ACC women’s basketball.
Our team erased a five-point halftime deficit as Shayla Fields scored 15 points after intermission to fuel a 57-46 win the clubs much needed first ACC victory of the season.
You may not be familiar with musician Damien Horne, but he has teamed up with our league for a theme song for ACC women’s hoops called “She Can Play.” It’s a catchy tune that has been played many times during recent televised games. Horne is traveling through the league and fortunately for the Pack he was in attendance in Blacksburg on Sunday.
Listen to the song at damienhorne.com.
He played it at halftime of the game, when our team was in the lockerroom. So they didn’t get to hear him.
Before boarding the bus and about the same time Jennifer Hudson was singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl in Tampa, Horne pulled the team off the bus to give them a private performance of the title track of his latest album “Somebody’s Hero.”
He told the team that he dedicated the song to Coach Yow and it was really moving as he bellowed out an acoustic version of the song in the hallway of the coliseum. Many players exchanged hugs with the guitar player for a copy of his new album.
He is expected to be at our game against North Carolina on Feb. 23 so keep up-to-date with GoPack.com on information on a performance by Damien Horne on our campus.
Though it has been a real tough period for the Wolfpack women, this past Sunday was an uplifting day for all in so many ways. From the pink on the court to the postgame jam session, it was just another in a long line of experiences that showed how Coach Yow has touched the lives in all walks of life.
No one even seemed to mind that we missed the Super Bowl on our bus ride back. Well, maybe just a little!
Mark Kimmel
Assistant Media Relations Director
RALEIGH, N.C. As all of you know the last 10 days has been a trying time for NC State University and the surrounding community with the passing of Wolfpack Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach Kay Yow. Her legendary battle with cancer went on for decades and she will be remembered for both what she accomplished on the court (737 wins) as much as she did off with the creation of the Kay/Yow WBCA Cancer Fund.
As tough as it’s been for the Wolfpack women recently, the season must go on and last weekend the team traveled up to Blacksburg, Va., for a road contest at Virginia Tech on Super Bowl Sunday.
The trip began as usual from Reynolds Coliseum. Bright and early Saturday morning the bus shoved off to Gibsonville, about 70 miles west of here, for the burial ceremony of Coach Yow. Arriving on a brisk, clear morning at Gibsonville Cemetery, the team and support staff paid its respects to Yow among a gathering of a few hundred friends and family.
The team was treated to a wonderful lunch with members of coach Yow’s family in nearby Burlington. Then it was off to Blacksburg for the team’s longest bus trip of the season. Most players and support staff immediately turned on their music and fell asleep. I used the nearly three-hour trip to finish my game notes, with the game being televised at 4 p.m. the next day.
Sunday came early after a delicious dinner at a local favorite Japanese steakhouse that has become a staple on road trips to play the Hokies. Coach Yow loved going to Japanese steakhouses and none of us will ever go to another one without thinking of her.
Having not gained a victory in a month, the Wolfpack was eager to get the game going. We arrived at Cassell Coliseum just over an hour before tip off and the first thing I noticed was the home team wearing pink shooting shirts with Yow draped across each players back and the cancer fund “Y” logo on the front. That is exactly the sort of thing we have seen on the road over the last few years and it really reminds us how special Coach Yow is to so many people.
The Pack wore its road “Pink” jersey for the first time all season, the same uniform last year’s club made famous last February when they were unveiled at Hoops 4 Hope.
Before the game started Virginia Tech head coach Beth Dunkenberger presented a check to our interim head coach Stephanie Glance for $26,190 for the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. A majority of the money was raised the week before, the same day Coach Yow passed away, when the Hokies held its “Chow 4 Yow” fundraiser an auction to have dinner with coach Dunkenberger and her staff.
This was just another reminder of the tight knit community that is ACC women’s basketball.
Our team erased a five-point halftime deficit as Shayla Fields scored 15 points after intermission to fuel a 57-46 win the clubs much needed first ACC victory of the season.
You may not be familiar with musician Damien Horne, but he has teamed up with our league for a theme song for ACC women’s hoops called “She Can Play.” It’s a catchy tune that has been played many times during recent televised games. Horne is traveling through the league and fortunately for the Pack he was in attendance in Blacksburg on Sunday.
Listen to the song at damienhorne.com.
He played it at halftime of the game, when our team was in the lockerroom. So they didn’t get to hear him.
Before boarding the bus and about the same time Jennifer Hudson was singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl in Tampa, Horne pulled the team off the bus to give them a private performance of the title track of his latest album “Somebody’s Hero.”
He told the team that he dedicated the song to Coach Yow and it was really moving as he bellowed out an acoustic version of the song in the hallway of the coliseum. Many players exchanged hugs with the guitar player for a copy of his new album.
He is expected to be at our game against North Carolina on Feb. 23 so keep up-to-date with GoPack.com on information on a performance by Damien Horne on our campus.
Though it has been a real tough period for the Wolfpack women, this past Sunday was an uplifting day for all in so many ways. From the pink on the court to the postgame jam session, it was just another in a long line of experiences that showed how Coach Yow has touched the lives in all walks of life.
No one even seemed to mind that we missed the Super Bowl on our bus ride back. Well, maybe just a little!
Mark Kimmel
Assistant Media Relations Director
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