UCLA's Natalie Williams played at a superstar level in basketball and volleyball and is one of the most accomplished athletes in Pac-12 history.
An avalanche of injuries took Missouri State's Jackie Stiles away from playing basketball long before she was ready. But you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who could have packed in more points scored in a relatively short college and pro career than Stiles did.
Both former players lead the way for the 2016 class of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee. The class -- which includes coaches Sherri Coale and Joe Lombard, referee June Courteau and administrator Bill Tipps -- was announced at Saturday's WNBA All-Star Game at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
The 2016 class will be inducted in June in Knoxville. The 1996 U.S. women's basketball Olympic team will receive the Hall's trailblazer award as well.
Williams, a 6-foot-2 post player in basketball and outside hitter in volleyball, earned All-America honors in both sports while at UCLA from 1990 to 1994. She was player of the year in basketball for the 1993-94 season in what was then the Pac-10.
A native of Utah, Williams went on to play basketball professionally in the United States in both the ABL and the WNBA. She helped the U.S. team win basketball gold at the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 1998 and 2002 world championship.
Stiles, a multisport prep star in Claflin, Kansas, broke the Division I women's basketball scoring record at Missouri State from 1997 to 2001 with 3,393 points. A 5-foot-8 guard, she capped her collegiate career by leading No. 5-seeded Missouri State to the 2001 Final Four in St. Louis.
She won the Wade Trophy that season as the nation's best women's college basketball player and then went on to win the WNBA Rookie of the Year award with the Portland Fire in 2001. But various injuries prevented her from completing another full WNBA season.
Coale was a successful high school coach in Oklahoma before being tabbed in 1996 to take over a Sooners program that had been briefly eliminated in 1990.
She is now 420-206 in 19 seasons at Oklahoma, which includes three Final Four appearances. Coale, a four-time Big 12 Coach of the Year, has led the Sooners to 16 straight NCAA tournament appearances. The Sooners have won or shared six Big 12 regular-season titles and won four league tournament championships.
Coale said it was a surreal moment when she got the phone call that she would be part of the Hall of Fame.
"I still feel like I'm young in my coaching career and still have so much left to do," Coale said. "I'm honored beyond belief."
Lombard has compiled a 1,226-116 record in 37 years of high school coaching in Texas at Nazareth and Canyon, where he has won a combined 17 state championships. He also was honored with the Morgan Wooten Award in 2015 by the Naismith Hall of Fame.
Courteau is one of the most recognized referees in women's basketball, having worked at the college, professional and international levels for 45 years. Currently the NCAA coordinator of officials, Courteau officiated at the Women's Final Four 12 times, including five NCAA championship games.
Tipps was a longtime AAU tournament director and former chairman of AAU girls' basketball. He also spent several years serving on USA Basketball committees and was on the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame board of directors.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.