
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 28, 1995                   TAG: 9506280047
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ROANOKE NATIVE HEADS TO UCONN

Roanoke native Charlene Curtis, a former women's basketball standout and coach at Radford University, has joined the staff at Connecticut as a full-time assistant.

Curtis, 39, most recently was the head coach at Temple, where she resigned in March after posting a five-year record of 41-97. Before that she compiled a 121-53 record in 11 seasons as the head coach at Radford.

Curtis, a graduate of William Fleming High School, was the first women's player to score 1,000 points for the Highlanders and also served as president of Radford's national alumni association.

Curtis received a master's degree in education from Virginia, where she was a graduate assistant coach from 1981-83 on a staff that included current UConn coach Geno Auriemma.

``We are absolutely delighted to have someone of Charlene's caliber and collegiate and coaching experience,'' said Auriemma, under whose direction the Huskies won the NCAA championship in April.

In other sports news in the region:

Dot Bolling of Salem shot a 74 to tie for third place in the first round of the Virginia State Golf Association Women's Stroke Play Championship at Brandermill Country Club in Midlothian. Cynthia Ho of Farmville carded a 71 to take the lead in the 54-hole tournament.

Defending champion Lee Shirley was four strokes back, at 75. Three others were tied with the 18-year-old Salem resident.

Blacksburg's Juanita Petrone shot an 83 and Norma Lemon of Covington carded an 89.

Virginia Tech basketball player Christi Osborne and golfer Brian Sharp were named the school's Metro Conference Medallion Award winners for 1994-95. The awards are presented to the top male and female student-athletes at each conference school.

Jennifer Azzi, recently named to the women's basketball team that will represent the United States in the 1996 Olympics, will speak and give autographs at 2 p.m. today at Virginia Tech.

Azzi, most valuable player in the 1990 women's Final Four, now plays professionally in Sweden. She will address the Virginia Tech girls' basketball camp in a session that will be open to the public at Cassell Coliseum.

by CNB