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A Noisy Tribute
N.C. State women play their first game since death of Yow, a 62-51 loss to Boston College
AP Photo
Coach Stephanie Glance sits next to an empty seat as the N.C. State women’s basketball team honored Kay Yow in the first game played since her death.
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Published: January 30, 2009
RALEIGH - Kay Yow wouldn't have liked the outcome.
She would have been touched by all the other events last night at Reynolds Coliseum, without question.
N.C. State's women's basketball team lost to Boston College 62-51 in its first game since Yow died on Saturday, but that didn't affect an atmosphere of appreciation and joyful reverence that filled the arena.
A crowd of 4,117 -- the majority dressed in pink in recognition of Yow's fight with breast cancer -- mourned Yow in a pregame tribute and then roared loudly as the Wolfpack fought back from a 31-point deficit in the second half.
Players and coaches huddled at midcourt to a standing ovation at game's end.
"I think Coach Yow would have been proud of us in the second half for battling back," said Shayla Fields, a senior guard from Salisbury.
Stephanie Glance, Yow's assistant who assumed the role of interim coach, said she was proud of how resilient the players have been throughout the past week.
N.C. State held a memorial for Yow on Wednesday night. Yow's public viewing and funeral is today in Cary, then the burial will be on Saturday in her hometown of Gibsonville.
"They wanted to win this game probably more than any game in their entire life," Glance said. "They gave tremendous effort to come back and battle back. We had 25 offensive rebounds so it was not a lack of effort. We were just a step slow on the offensive and defensive ends and our timing was off.
"But we're on a journey here and this was the first step of the journey. We're going to keep playing through this. We're going to keep walking through this together, and we're going to keep getting better. We're going to keep grieving and having emotions and do all the things we need to do to heal and move on -- as people first and as players and coaches second."
The tributes to Yow, who had a record of 680-325 during 34 seasons at State, were apparent in many forms.
Yow's seat on the State bench remained empty, with a jersey with No. 14 -- the "family number" dating to Yow's playing days at Gibsonville High -- draped over it.
State players wore pink shoes, and white uniforms with pink and black trim with the name "Yow" on the backs of the jerseys.
Dozens of Yow's former players filled the stands.
Boston College players wore pink headbands and shoelaces.
The officials used pink whistles.
There were signs throughout the crowd … and a sea of pink shirts. And amazingly, the crowd got louder and louder as the game wore on.
Boston College led 36-15 at halftime, and pushed the lead to 46-15 early in the second half.
"The first half, it was a game that you're sitting there watching and you're thinking we are really off, and there was nothing we could do about it until we just played through it," Glance said.
When they did, they roared back.
"It was a very emotional experience," Fields said. "I got very emotional at the end of the game. I was so happy that the fans stayed and cheered us on and supported us even though we were down by so many points. They inspired us to keep going and keep fighting."
Glance said: "The crowd was unbelievable. It was like we were up 20, or it was a 1-point game. But we were down by 25 points and the crowd was yelling and screaming and encouraging our players. We were so grateful for that. And we really needed that."
Mickel Picco led Boston College with 22 points and Fields was the leading scorer for State with 17.
The loss was State's sixth straight and dropped the record to 8-12 overall and 0-5 in the ACC. Boston College is 17-4 and 5-1.
State officials announced two changes to the schedule. State's game at Wake Forest, which was originally set for Monday but was postponed to Feb. 10 after Yow's death, has now been changed again to Feb. 17. The Wake Forest at State game, originally scheduled for Feb. 19, has been rescheduled for Feb. 12.
■ John Delong can be reached at jdelong@wsjournal.com.
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