WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina State University

Yow stays off sidelines for fourth game

Jan 4, 2009

Raleigh, N.C. — The N.C. State women's basketball team will miss a familiar figure when they take the court against South Carolina in Reynolds Coliseum Sunday.

Head Coach Kay Yow will miss her fourth-straight game since she began hormonal treatments to fight a recurrence of breast cancer.

N.C. State officials said that Yow is suffering from an extremely low energy level.

Whether Yow will be on the sidelines at next Sunday's game against arch-rival Carolina will not be decided later this week, officials said.

Yow also missed home games against Jacksonville State and Georgetown this past week and against Columbia in New York Dec. 22.

In the June, Yow announced that she had resumed chemotherapy treatments. At the time, she said she expected to be on chemotherapy for three to four months and then switch to hormone therapy treatments.

N.C. State's head coach since 1975, Yow has battled breast cancer, which doctors first diagnosed her with in 1987.

Four games into the 2006-07 season, Yow had to take a leave of absence due to a progression in her cancer. She missed 16 games before returning to the bench in a Wolfpack win over Virginia on Jan. 26, 2007.

Last year, she had a remarkable season and coached throughout the year. N.C. State made a run through the Women’s NIT to finish 21-13.

So far, the Wolfpack is 8-6 this year. It leads the series with South Carolina 18-8.