Rebecca Lobo

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Rebecca Rose Lobo-Rushin (born October 6, 1973) is an American television basketball analyst and a former player in the professional Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 to 2003. Lobo, at 6' 4", played the center position for much of her career.

[edit] Career

[edit] High school

Lobo was born in Hartford, Connecticut. Raised in Southwick, Massachusetts, Lobo was the state scoring record-holder with 2,710 points in her high school career for in Southwick-Tolland Regional High School in Massachusetts. She held this record for 18 years until it was eclipsed by Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir of the new Leadership Charter School in Springfield on January 26, 2009

[edit] College

Lobo attended the University of Connecticut and helped lead the Huskies to the 1995 National Championship with an undefeated 35-0 record. In her senior year, she won the 1995 Naismith and College Player of the Year award. Rebecca was awarded the prestigious Honda-Broderick Cup for 1994-95, presented to the athlete "most deserving of recognition as the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year".^[1] She was a member of the inaugural class of inductees to the University of Connecticut women's basketball "Huskies of Honor" recognition program.^[2] Lobo was named the 1995 Sportswoman of the Year (in the team category) by the Women's Sports Foundation.^[3] Rebecca was the first player in the Big East Conference ever to earn first team all American honors for both basketball and academics

[edit] Professional

In 1997, the WNBA formed its inaugural season and Rebecca was assigned to the New York Liberty during the league's first player allocations on January 22, 1997. The first season the Liberty fell to the Houston Comets in the WNBA Finals. Lobo suffered a setback in 1999, tearing her left anterior cruciate ligament and her meniscus in the first game of the season. In 1999, she was selected to the inaugural WNBA All Star team but could not play because of the injury. ^[4]. In 2002 she was traded to the Houston Comets in exchange for Houston’s second-round selection (26th overall) in the 2002 WNBA Draft. The next season she was traded to the Connecticut Sun, where she retired in 2003. Rebecca also played two seasons in the National Woman's Basketball league with the Springfield Spirit 2002 through 2003

[edit] WNBA Teams

1997-2001: New York Liberty
2002: Houston Comets
2003: Connecticut Sun

[edit] Sports announcing

Today, Lobo is seen as a reporter and color analyst for ESPN with a focus on women's college basketball and WNBA games.

[edit] Women's Basketball Hall of Fame

Lobo will be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2010.^[5]

[edit] Family

Lobo is the youngest daughter of Dennis and RuthAnn Lobo. Her father is half Cuban and half Polish. Her mother is of German and Irish heritage.^{[6] [7]} Her brother Jason played basketball at Dartmouth College. Her sister Rachel played basketball at Salem State College.

On April 12, 2003, Rebecca changed her last name from Lobo to Lobo-Rushin because she married former Sports Illustrated writer Steve Rushin at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. ^[8] They have three children (2 girls and 1 boy) Siobhan Rose Rushin (Dec 25, 2004), Maeve Elizabeth Rushin (August 10, 2006), and Thomas Joseph Rushin (October 6, 2008).

[edit] Breast cancer advocate

In 1996, Lobo and her mother, Ruth Ann Lobo, collaborated on a book entitled The Home Team [1], which dealt with Ruth Ann's battle with breast cancer. They also founded the RuthAnn and Rebecca Lobo Scholarship, which offers a scholarship to the UConn School of Allied Health for Hispanic students. ^[9]

Rebecca was the 1996 spokesperson for the Lee National Denim Day fund raiser which raises millions of dollars for breast cancer research and education.

[edit] University of Connecticut Statistics

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Rebecca Lobo's blog
• Lobo Land - unofficial fan site
• "Rebecca Lobo". Hispanic Heritage: Biographies. Thomson Gale. http://www.gale.com/free_resources/chh/bio/lobo_r.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-24. 
• "Vital Stats". RebeccaLobo.com. WNBA. http://www.wnba.com/rebeccalobo/fun_facts.html. Retrieved 2007-04-24.