Alex M. Rivera Athletics Hall of Fame
Determination and an exceptional quality of team spirit took the 1983-84 Eagle women's basketball team through the season-ending CIAA tournament. By the end of the final game, coach Yvonne Edwards and the eleven players being honored tonight had become the favorites of NCCU and the CIAA Tournament crowd, as they brought home the first official CIAA tournament championship for any women's team in the history of the institution.
1983-84 Women’s Basketball Team: Frances Barnhill, Priscilla Herring, Linda Nicolson, Rena Sharpe, Wanda Bradley, Brenda Cox, Robin Brooks, Jacqueline Pinnix, Terri Abel, Tonya Williams, Monica Johnson, Diedra Solomon, Monica McLaurin, Renee Cohen, Sharon Wheeler, Coach Yvonne Edwards.
(from program at time of induction)
The 1983-84 North Carolina Central University women’s basketball team ended the regular-season with a 9-17 overall record and a last place finish in the conference standings.
However, two weeks later, after knocking off Hampton, Winston-Salem State and Shaw in the first three rounds of the CIAA (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) Tournament, the Lady Eagles capped a remarkable run by defeating Virginia State 92-87 on Feb. 25, 1984, to win the school’s first conference championship in a women’s sport.
NCCU senior Jacqueline Pinnix topped the team’s championship charge with a tournament record 123 points in four games, an average of 30.8 points per contest.
Members of NCCU’s 1984 CIAA Championship squad were Terri Abel, Francis Barnhill, Wanda Bradley, Robin Brooks, Renee Cohen, Brenda Cox, Priscilla Herring, Monica Johnson, Mona McLaurin, Linda Nicholson, Jacqueline Pinnix, Diedra Solomon, Rena Sharpe, Sharon Wheeler, Tynetta Williams, assistant coach Ronald Willie and head coach Yvonne Edwards.
