June 7, 2012
KNOXVILLE, TN - Inge Nissen, who helped lead the Lady Monarch basketball team to back-to-back AIAW National Championships will be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2012, Saturday, June 9th. She will join Nancy Fahey, Nikki McCray, Pamela McGee, Robin Roberts and Dawn Staley. Follow the induction weekend with ODU Hall of Fame great Nancy Lieberman on Facebook and twitter (@nancylieberman #ODUWBB).
Inge becomes the third Lady Monarch, joining Lady Monarch teammates, Anne Donovan, and Nancy Lieberman who were inducted into the Hall in 1999. Their head coach Marianne Stanley was inducted in 2002.Women's Basketball Hall of Fame - Class of 2012:
Inge Nissen (Player) Nissen led Old Dominion University to the AIAW National Championships in 1979 and 1980 finishing her career with 2,647 points and 1,459 rebounds. She was named the team's MVP during the 1978, 1979 and 1980 seasons as well as the Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year in 1980. Nissen was a two-time Wade Trophy Finalist and a 1980 Kodak All-American. She was inducted into the Old Dominion University Hall of Fame in 1985. She also holds the ODU single game rebound mark of 28 which she did twice, and grabbed 20 or more rebounds nine times. During her career at ODU, the Lady Monarchs were 125-15.
Inge completed her 23rd year on the staff and 21st as associate head coach, at Florida International University with Head Coach Cindy Russo (ODU'75).Nissen's jersey, No. 42, is also retired by ODU and she was selected to ODU's All-Time Lady Monarch squad, as voted by fans on the university's athletic website, in 2006. Nissen was also honored as one of ESPN.com's top-25 players of the pre-NCAA era for her accomplishments with the Lady Monarchs.
Nissen,a native of Randers, Denmark, was one of the top amateur players in Europe in the early 1970s. During that time, she played an important role on five national championship teams with Denmark (1972), Norway (1973) and France (1974, 1975 and 1985). She then won the French National Championship with the Asnieres junior team. Nissen spent a season in the Women's Pro Basketball League with Chicago.
Nissen received her bachelor's degree in French Literature from Old Dominion in 1990. Nissen and her husband, Lance Bennett, live in Perrine, Florida
NANCY FAHEY (Coach) Fahey is the only coach in NCAA Division III history to winfive national championships, including a stretch of four-straight crowns from 1998-01. She led Washington University-St. Louis to the second-longest winning streak in NCAA women's basketball history at 81 games. Fahey ranks third among all active NCAA coaches with an .849 career winning percentage. She was named the 2000 WBCA Division III Coach of the Year.
NIKKI MCCRAY (Player) A two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and three-time WNBA All-Star, McCray scored 2,528 points during her nine-year WNBA career. In her four-year career at the University of Tennessee, McCray led the Lady Vols to three SEC regular season titles, two conference tournament championships, and four NCAA tournament appearances. She earned All-American and SEC Player of the Year honors in both her junior and senior years.
PAM MCGEE (Player) McGee helped lead the University of Southern California to back-to-back NCAA National Championships in 1983 and 1984, earning All-American honors in 1984. She was a three-time All-NCAA First Team selection, a finalist for the 1983 Wade Trophy and a finalist for the 1984 Naismith Award. She is USC's sixth all-time scorer with 2,214 points and USC's second all-time rebounder with 1,255 rebounds. McGee helped led the USA Basketball Team to their first ever gold medal in the 1984 Olympics.
ROBIN ROBERTS (Contributor) Roberts began her career as an outstanding player for Southeastern Louisiana University, where she is the school's all-time leading scorer (1,446 points) and rebounder (1,034 rebounds). In 1983 she began her career in TV as a sports reporter in Hattiesburg, MS. Since then Roberts has earned multiple Emmy Awards while working at ESPN and ABC. She was the 2001 WBCA Mel Greenberg Media Award Winner, and she has been inducted into the Women's Institute of Sport and Education Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1994.
DAWN STALEY (Player) Staley was a three-time Kodak All-American, two-time ACC and National Player of the Year, and the 1991 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player during her college career. She is the only ACC player to record more than 2,000 points, 700 rebounds, 700 assists, and 400 steals. During her WNBA career, Staley was named an All-Star five times and was selected to the WNBA All-Decade Team. A three-time Olympic Gold Medalist, Staley was also named the 1994 and 2004 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year.
With the addition of the Class of 2012, the list of individuals who have been recognized as Women's Basketball Hall of Fame inductees will increase to 127. The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame's Board of Directors serves as the selection committee in determining which individuals will be inducted each year. Voting is based on various factors, which may include moral character, integrity, sportsmanship, record of performance, ability, national or international recognition, and contributions to the game of women's basketball.
In order to be considered for selection for induction, an individual must meet the following prerequisites: Player: Must be retired from the highest level of play for at least five years Coach: Must have coached the women's game at least 20 years Referee: Must have officiated the women's game at least 10 years Contributor: Must have significantly impacted the game of women's basketballDiscover the past, present and future of women's basketball at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, the world's only hall of fame dedicated solely to the accomplishments of women's basketball. 700 Hall of Fame Drive - Knoxville, TN 37915 - www.wbhof.com.