Bonney Lake resident Joan Rupp, 77, will be honored alongside local athletes at the Seattle Storm Title IX celebration tonight.

Rupp was a forward with Dempsey’s Texas Cowgirls, a barnstorming team, as a young woman in the 1950s. She traveled across the country playing venues large and small, frequently performing exhibition games with the likes of the Harlem Globetrotters. Her story can be read here.

The ceremony will take place at half-time. Reporter Brian Beckley will accompany Rupp to the WNBA game tonight, and will write a column on the experience for next week.

The Storm will play the Phoenix Mercury tonight. The game can be watched from home on TV channel KONG, at 7 p.m.