Cindy Brown (basketball)

Cynthia Louise "Cindy" Brown (born March 16, 1965) is a retired American women's basketball player, at the college, Olympic and professional levels. Brown was a member of the USA Basketball team which went on to win a gold medal at the Pan American 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, Brown played basketball for Long Beach State University 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 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 on April 26, 1997. Before she ever reported to Long Beach, however, Brown signed with the rival WNBA.

WNBA
Brown was part of the initial player allocation prior to the 1998 season and was sent to the Detroit Shock. Brown's debut game was played on June 13, 1998 in a 69 - 78 loss to the Charlotte Sting where she recorded 10 points and 8 rebounds.

In her first season with the Shock, she was the starting Forward for all 30 games of the season, finished second in the WNBA in rebounding and was named to the 1998 All-WNBA Second Team. On August 10, 1998, Brown broke the Shock franchise record for most rebounds in a game when she grabbed 21 rebounds in a 77 - 73 win over the Utah Starzz. Future Detroit Shock star Cheryl Ford would tie Brown's rebound record on June 22, 2003 against the Connecticut Sun, but then Ford broke the record on May 22, 2004 when she snagged 22 boards against the San Antonio Silver Stars. The Shock finished the 1998 season with a 17-13 record but missed the playoffs.

On July 29, 1999, midway through her second WNBA season, Brown was traded, along with teammate Korie Hlede, to the Utah Starzz for Wendy Palmer and Olympia Scott-Richardson. It was alleged that both Hlede and Brown requested to be traded from Detroit. Hlede wanted more playing time as her minutes per game dropped from 33.8 in her rookie season with the Shock, to 19.4 in her sophomore season. While Brown was alleged to have not gotten along well with coach and general manager Nancy Lieberman.

Brown played in 9 of Utah's remaining 11 season games (missing the final 2 games of the season). She started in all 9 of those games and averaged 3.8 points and 3.7 rebounds. The Starzz closed out the season winning 8 of their last 11 games. Unfortunately, the team had a 7 - 14 record by the time Brown arrived and the team consequently missed the playoffs after finishing 15 - 17.

After finishing the 1999 season with the Starzz, Brown would announce her retirement from the WNBA. Her final game in the league was played on August 16, 1999 in a 71 - 80 loss to the Houston Comets. In her final game, Brown recorded 2 rebounds, 1 assist but no points.