Ex-Liberty coach Donovan dies, 56

Anne Donovan, the Basketball Hall of Famer who won a national championship at Old Dominion, two Olympic gold medals as a player and another as a coach, died Wednesday of heart failure. She was 56.

Donovan was at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn., last weekend.

She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995, was part of the inaugural class of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999 and was inducted in the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015.

The 6-foot-8 center coached both in college and the WNBA. She became the first female coach and the youngest person (42) to win a title in the WNBA, guiding Seattle to a championship in 2004.

Donovan also coached the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, Charlotte Sting, New York Liberty and Connecticut Sun, working there from 2013-15. The native of Ridgewood, N.J., who played at Paramus Catholic High School, also coached at Seton Hall for a few years.

“It hurt bad. To be totally honest, she was the only coach I ever played for that challenged me and forced me to be better,” said Tina Charles, who played for Donovan on the Connecticut Sun. “At a young age I didn’t understand it. For me it [stinks] because I always wanted to text her, thank you for being hard on me. Thank you for saying to me before practice you’re not taking a hook shot this practice, get to the basket, figure it out. It’s sad.”

Liberty coach Katie Smith, who played for Donovan on USA Basketball was emotional in her postgame press conference, just saying “it’s tough, it’s tough.” Smith saw Donovan at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame where the Liberty’s coach was inducted as part of this year’s class.

Donovan was a member of three Olympics teams as a player. The team won the gold in 1984 and ‘88. —