Just over a month after winning her fourth Olympic gold medal – this time as an assistant coach of the USA women’s basketball team – Anne Donovan ’83 celebrated yet another milestone in her stellar career: a WNBA championship as head coach of the Seattle Storm.

Under Donovan’s leadership, the Storm defeated Connecticut, 74-60, Oct. 12 for its first title. In the process, she became the first female coach to win a WNBA championship.

Donovan is also the only coach in WNBA history to take two different teams to the WNBA finals, having led Charlotte to the title game against Los Angeles in 2001. She’s now considered by many as the favorite to coach the U.S. women’s Olympic team in Beijing in 2008.

A member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the ODU Sports Hall of Fame, Donovan remains the Lady Monarchs’ career leader in scoring (2,719), rebounding (1,976), and blocked shots (801). She was a three-time All-American and 1983 Naismith National Player of the Year.