Hall of Fame
Cynthia (Bynum) Underwood played both the power forward and center positions. She punished her opponents on both ends of the court. Throughout her career, she exploited her full range of talents and simply dominated the game with her play.
During Underwood’s freshman year, the Lady Cats finished with a record or 22-2 and won their first PAC title. She finished her first season with 307 points, which ranked her as third-best in scoring as a freshman. She hauled down 257 rebounds. She was named to the All-PAC Second Team.
As a sophomore, Underwood was instrumental to the Lady Cats winning back-to-back PAC titles. She grabbed 292 rebounds that season, averaging 11.1 rebounds per game. She was named to the All-PAC First Team. During her junior year, she grabbed 287 rebounds, averaging 12 rebounds per game. It was in her senior season that the Lady Cats won their third PAC title and earned the chance to play in the “Big Dance,” but were bumped out in the first round. Underwood pulled down 273 rebounds during her senior year, averaging 10.9 per game. She broke the all-time scoring and rebounding records her senior year.
At the time of her induction, she was Thiel’s career rebound leader (1,073) and also led in blocks (121). She ranked third in scoring (1,203), second in career free-throws (242), third in career field goals (480) and fourth in career steals (222). With Underwood on the team, the Lady Cats compiled a 72-23 record. Besides basketball, Underwood also ran track her freshman and sophomore years.
