Women’s basketball pioneer Lusia Harris died in her native Mississippi on Tuesday at the age of 66, his family said in a statement. 

“We are deeply saddened to share the news that our angel, matriarch, sister, mother, grandmother, Olympic medalist, The Queen of Basketball, Lusia Harris has passed away unexpectedly today in Mississippi,” the family said in a statement.

“The recent months brought Ms. Harris great joy, including the news of the upcoming wedding of her youngest son and the outpouring of recognition received by a recent documentary that brought worldwide attention to her story.”

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Harris is the only woman to be drafted by an NBA team. She scored the first points in women’s basketball history at the Olympics.

Harris was officially drafted by the New Orleans Jazz in the seventh round in 1977. She, however, didn’t try out for the team because she was pregnant at the time.

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She earned a silver medal for the United States at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. She was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992 as the first Black woman to earn that honor. She was later enshrined into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. Harris was the subject of a 2021 short film titled “The Queen of Basketball” that detailed her career.

“She will be remembered for her charity, for her achievements both on and off the court, and the light she brought to her community, the State of Mississippi, her country as the first woman ever to score a basket in the Olympics, and to women who play basketball around the world,” the statement said.

Following her death, several people took to Twitter to pay tributes. 

“RIP Lusia Harris. Delta State alum, first woman to score a point in Olympic basketball, only woman drafted by a NBA team (New Orleans Jazz 1977) and the only person ever to be drafted by a NBA team while pregnant. She blazed a trail and left it burning for others to follow,” one person tweeted.

“This is very sad. What an enormous talent and gone too soon. Lusia Harris, first and only woman officially drafted by the NBA, dies at 66,” another person wrote. 

With inputs from the Associated Press