FLUSHING, N.Y. – The Queens College Department of Athletics and Recreation mourns the loss of women's basketball Hall of Famer, Althea Gwyn, who passed away at her home on Sunday, January 9, 2022. 

Gwyn was inducted into the Queens College Athletics Hall of Fame with the Class of 2013.  In addition, her 1978 Queens College women's basketball team is the first team to ever be inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame. 

"We are deeply saddened by Althea's passing. She was a beloved teammate, one of the best to ever wear a Knights jersey, and a trailblazer in women's basketball", said Head Coach Elizabeth Naumovski. "An outstanding woman who has left us far too soon.  I extend my deepest condolences to both her immediate and basketball family.  She will certainly be missed."

Althea was a member of the first women's basketball team to ever play at Madison Square Garden on February 22, 1975, against rival Immaculata College. In 1978, she was named to the Kodak All-American team becoming the first QC women's basketball student-athlete to earn All-American honors. During her playing career at Queens College, she would go on to become a two-time All-American and the nation's leading rebounder in 1976-77 and 1977-78.

Following her career at Queens, Gwyn played professionally in the Women's Basketball League, a precursor to the WNBA. She played amateur basketball in Belgium in 1978 before returning to New York and signing with the New York Stars in the Women's Professional Basketball League. In 1979 she led the WBL in rebounds and was second in scoring. 

Althea is only one of three former Queens College women's basketball players to have her jersey retired. Her #31 jersey hangs inside Fitzgerald Gymnasium next to #15 Debbie Mason and #25 Gail Marquis.