Worcester, MA --- WPI Assistant Women's Basketball Coach Kate Lynch will be inducted Friday night into the New England  Basketball Hall of Fame.  The ceremony will be held at the Mohegan Sun Hotel in Uncasville, Conn.  She is one of 11 women to be inducted in the Ronald S. Perry category.  

Lynch graduated from Southern Connecticut State as the school's all-time leader in points (1,779), field goals (650) and free throw percentage (.803). She was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2007 Division II NCAA Tournament while helping lead the Owls to the National Championship that year.  Lynch joined the WPI coaching staff this past summer after a stint as the Director of Basketball Operations at Division I Fairfield.

While at Southern Connecticut, Lynch earned numerous awards, including being named a First Team All-American during her junior and senior seasons and being selected Northeast 10 Conference Player of the Year and First Team ECAC All-Star both years.  In 2008, the two-time captain received the New Haven Tap-Off Club Female Athlete Player of the Year award.

Another inductee with WPI ties includes current Springfield women's head coach Naomi Graves.  Graves is entering her 19th season as the head coach at Springfield after spending the first six years of her career as the head coach at WPI.  She has compiled an impressive 266-117 record since Springfield joined moved to Division III in 1995. Her teams have won the NEWMAC Tournament Championship in five of the past nine years and she has been named the league's Coach of the Year three times.

NEWMAC Release on those associated with the conference being inducted