Long Beach Stingrays

rdf:langString Long Beach Stingrays

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rdf:langString American Basketball League

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rdf:langString Long Beach Stingrays

rdf:langString 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 campus of California State University, Long Beach; however, one home game was played at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center). Their head coach was Maura McHugh. The Stingrays' biggest star player was their center, Yolanda Griffith. Other notable Stingrays included Beverly Williams, Michelle M. Marciniak, and the former Olympic athlete Venus Lacy. In what turned out to be the team's only season, the Stingrays made it all the way to the ABL's championship round. They beat the defending champion Columbus Quest in the first two games (both in Long Beach) but lost the final three games in Columbus, and with that, the series. Despite their strong first season, the Stingrays were viewed largely with indifference by area fans. They had the league's worst attendance; for most of the season, they attracted crowds in the hundreds. Citing anemic season ticket sales and weak corporate sponsorship, league officials shuttered the Stingrays in August 1998. The rest of the league followed in December. Griffith, like most of the ABL's star players, eventually joined the competing Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) Griffith went on to a long career in the WNBA, most notably for the Sacramento Monarchs. As for McHugh, she has coached various professional and college teams.