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.
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 Marciniak, and the former Olympian 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.
The Stingrays folded after the season, and the rest of the league followed in December 1998. Griffith, like most of the ABL's star players, eventually joined the competing Women's National Basketball Association. Griffith has played for the Sacramento Monarchs since 1999. As for McHugh, she has coached various professional and college teams.
Read more about Long Beach Stingrays: League Honors
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