Courtesy of University of Hartford Athletic Media Relations
West Hartford, CT - University of Hartford head women's basketball coach Jennifer Rizzotti was named Tuesday one of 10 finalists for the Inaugural Kay Yow Award. Rizzotti is in her 11th season with the Hawks and has led Hartford to a 27-3 record and a 20-game win streak heading into the America East championship game on Saturday versus Vermont (8:00 p.m.).
The Kay Yow award was established to honor the Division I women's head coach who embodies not only a winning spirit, but who always displays great character on and off the court. The winner will be voted by a 26-member panel with the award presented at the 2010 NCAA Women's Final Four in San Antonio.
Geno Auriemma (Connecticut), Nikki Caldwell (UCLA), Jim Jabor (Dayton), Muffet McGraw (Notre Dame), Sherri Coale (Oklahoma), Sue Semrau (Florida State), Pat Summitt (Tennessee), Tara VanDerveer (Stanford) and Connie Yori (Nebraska) are the other finalists.
The distinguished voting panel includes South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan, Old Dominion head coach Wendy Larry and three members of the Yow family. The committee is chaired by television analyst Debbie Antonelli.
Yow coached 737 victories at N.C. State over 34 seasons despite being first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987. Yow also led U.S. National Teams to gold medals at the 1981 World University Games, 1986 Goodwill Games, 1986 World Championships and 1988 Olympics, before passing in January 2009.