(TIME MAGAZINE) A former women's Fresno State basketball assistant coach was among those killed in a plane crash in central Arkansas, along with the head women's basketball coach of Oklahoma State Univeristy and two others.
Oklahoma State University women's basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna were killed when the single-engine plane they were riding in during a recruiting trip crashed about 45 miles west of Little Rock, Arkansas.
OSU said the plane's pilot and another passenger also died in Thursday's crash. "There were no survivors," the university statement said.
crash.
Serna was an assistant coach with Fresno State in the early 2000's, working with then head coach Stacey Johnson-Klein before leaving the team in 2004 to work at Oklahoma State.
The Perry County Sheriff's Department said the crash occurred just before 7 p.m. \
Oklahoma State canceled its women's college basketball home games set for Saturday and Sunday. The school's second-ranked college football team plays Friday night at Iowa State.
University president Burns Hargis credited Budke with elevating the team in a tough program. Serna, he said, set a good example for the players. "Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of Kurt Budke, Miranda Serna and the other victims.
"Miranda was an up-and-coming coach and an outstanding role model for our young ladies," Hargis also said.
Prior to joining Budke on the Lady Techster staff, Serna served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Fresno State. While working with the Bulldogs, she also handled team travel, scouting reports, managed the program's budget and worked with the program's guards on the floor.
During her stint with FSU, the Bulldogs posted a 20-win season during the 2002-03 campaign, earned a berth in the quarterfinals of the Women's National Invitation Tournament.
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