Cheyney University celebrates 40th anniversary of 1982 women's basketball team's historic NCAA game
CHEYNEY, Pa. - Cheyney University's women's basketball team made history in 1982 when it made it to the NCAA Division I championship game.
Although the team lost to Louisiana Tech, they remain the only team from a historically Black college or university to play for an NCAA Division I basketball championship.
Cheyney University celebrated the team over the weekend with an event to honor the 40th anniversary of the historic game.
The significance of the 1982 game is not lost on the team's former players, especially when the team was ranked second in the nation and had a 23 game winning streak.
"We realized we were the first HBCU to get there, you know," Valerie Walker told FOX 29. "It was very important for us to get there. We got there. We did great things and we created history."
Former player Yolanda Laney says coming from Cheyney prepared them to feel no pressure as they made it to the championship. "Cheyney has a rich heritage. [It's] the first historically Black college or university as well as now the first and only women's basketball team to make it to a Final Four," she said.
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Coach C. Vivian Stringer led the team to the historic game.
"Coach Stringer was a great coach. She was a great instructor. She was a great teacher," Laney said. "She prepared us for every game that we played. We never felt that we would be defeated. We always thought we would win every time that we stepped onto the court because of the preparation and all the energy that she put in."
The team made history just by playing in the game, but it was also the first team with an all-women coaching staff to make it to the Final Four and a championship game. Additionally, it was the team with the first Black coaching staff at an NCAA Division I finals.
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