Cynthia Louise "Cindy" Brown (born March 16, 1965) is a retired American
women's basketball
Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...
player, at the college, Olympic and professional levels. Brown was a member of the
USA Basketball
USA Basketball (USAB) is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olympi ...
team which went on to win a gold medal at the
Pan American
Pan-American, Pan American, Panamerican, Pan-America, Pan America or Panamerica may refer to:
* Collectively, the Americas: North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean
* Something of, from, or related to the Americas
* Pan-Amer ...
Games in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1987,
and the gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.
She was also a member of the gold medal-winning team for the US at the
1985 World University Games, and the 1986 World Championship team.
College career
Born in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, Brown played basketball for
Long Beach State University
California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...
between 1983 and 1987.
As a senior, she set two NCAA scoring records—the most points in a single season (974) and the most points in a single game (60).
The 60 point game was against San Jose State, a game Long Beach would win 149–69.
Brown was a member of the Final Four All-Tournament team in 1987, and earned first team All-America honors in 1986 and 1987.
Long Beach State University statistics
Source
Professional career
Because the U.S. lacked a women's pro league, Brown played professionally in Europe and Japan for almost a decade.
She played for:
* Sidis Ancona (Italy) 1987–1988
* Toshiba Yana Gi Cho (Japan) 1988–1992
* Faenza Errieti Club (Italy) 1992–1994
* Elizur Holon (Israel) 1994–1996
She was selected by the
Seattle Reign
OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...
in the second round of the
ABL Draft on June 19, 1996. A 6'-1" center/power forward, a tenacious rebounder and a strong inside scoring presence, Brown earned Second Team All-ABL honors following the 1996–97 season.
She was assigned to the site of her college success, the expansion
Long Beach Stingrays
The Long Beach Stingrays was a women's professional basketball team. It existed for only the 1997–98 season, and was a member of the American Basketball League (ABL).
The Stingrays played most of their home games at the Walter Pyramid on the ...
on April 26, 1997. Before she ever reported to Long Beach, however, Brown signed with the rival
WNBA.
The WNBA allocated Brown to the
Detroit Shock prior to the 1998 season.
In her first season with the Shock, she finished second in the WNBA in rebounding, and was named to the 1998 All-WNBA Second Team. Brown broke the Shock franchise record at Utah on August 10 by grabbing 21 rebounds in a game against
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
(a record which
Cheryl Ford
Cheryl Ford (born June 6, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. As a member of the Detroit Shock, she won the WNBA championship three times.
Personal life
Cheryl Ford is the daughter of Bonita Ford and former NBA player ...
tied on June 22, 2003 at
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
, and which Ford broke on May 22, 2004 when she snagged 22 boards at
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
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, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
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).
On July 29, 1999, midway through her second WNBA season, Brown was traded, along with
Korie Hlede, to the
Utah Starzz
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...
,
for
Wendy Palmer and
Olympia Scott-Richardson
Olympia Scott, formerly known under her married name of Olympia Scott-Richardson, is an American former professional basketball player in the WNBA, and a former college coach. She is also co-founder of an online parenting education company ...
. Brown played only 9 games for Utah, and retired from the WNBA following the 1999 season.
See also
*
References
;General
*
;Specific
External links
Long Beach State Hall of Fame bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Cindy
1965 births
Living people
African-American basketball players
All-American college women's basketball players
American expatriate basketball people in Israel
American expatriate basketball people in Italy
American expatriate basketball people in Japan
American women's basketball players
Basketball players at the 1987 Pan American Games
Basketball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Portland, Oregon
Centers (basketball)
Detroit Shock players
Grant High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni
Long Beach State Beach women's basketball players
Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States
Pan American Games medalists in basketball
Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball)
Power forwards (basketball)
Seattle Reign (basketball) players
Universiade gold medalists for the United States
Universiade medalists in basketball
Utah Starzz players
Medalists at the 1985 Summer Universiade
Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games
21st-century African-American people
21st-century African-American women
20th-century African-American sportspeople
20th-century African-American women
United States women's national basketball team players