N.C. State women’s basketball coach Kay Yow steps down for remainder of season

N.C. State women's basketball coach Kay Yow is stepping away from her coaching duties for the rest of the season because of a recurrence of breast cancer.

Yow and N.C. State director of athletics Lee Fowler announced jointly today in Raleigh, N.C., that that associate head coach Stephanie Glance will serve as interim head coach while Yow is away from the job.

Yow said the recurrence of her cancer does not allow her to give the energy necessary to coach her team at the standard she feels it deserves. She said her decision to step aside was shaped, at least in part, by advice from Dr. Mark Graham, her longtime oncologist.

State's Hall of Fame coach was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987 and has been a public figure in the battle against the disease ever since. She took a 16-game leave of absence after her breast cancer reappeared in November of 2006. She returned in January of that season and inspired a determined Wolfpack club to a run into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Yow, 66, has missed the last four Wolfpack games due to a diminished energy level.

Yow has coached 34 seasons at N.C. State and has recorded 737 victories the sixth-most in NCAA women's basketball history.

--Vic Dorr Jr.