RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina State women's basketball coach Kay Yow will not return to the team this season due to health issues related to her long fight against cancer.

In a statement released by the school Tuesday afternoon, the Hall of Fame coach said she just doesn't have the energy to coach the way she always has before. She has missed the past four games, starting Dec. 22 against Columbia in New York.

Yow said she will revisit the decision no later than the end of the season. Her contract runs through the 2011-12 season.

"Stepping away from coaching is one of the hardest decisions I have had to make, but I have great confidence in the experienced staff I have been working with for such a long time and the character of everyone involved in the program to respond positively to my decision," Yow said.

Yow was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987, and the disease recurred in the 2004-05 season. Yow also missed 16 games to focus on treatment two seasons ago. Associate head coach Stephanie Glance has led the program in her absence and will continue as the interim coach.

The Wolfpack (8-7) travels to unbeaten and second-ranked North Carolina on Sunday.

Yow said she is hopeful she'll feel well enough to attend some of the Wolfpack's Atlantic Coast Conference games to support the team.

"Our No. 1 concern right now is the health and well-being of coach Yow," athletics director Lee Fowler said in the statement. "I speak for our entire athletic department and say we support the decision that she has made, and our thoughts and prayers are with her as she continues her fight."

Yow ranks as one of the game's winningest coaches with 737 career victories in 38 years. She has also coached the U.S. Olympic team to the gold medal in 1988, and earned four ACC tournament championships, 20 NCAA tournament bids and an appearance in the 1998 Final Four during her 34 years at N.C. State.

Earlier Tuesday, Dr. Mark Graham, Yow's oncologist, said he has been trying to "tweak" her treatment program to get her feeling "as well as possible." Yow has been on hormonal therapy as the disease has spread to her liver and bone.

In addition to the disease itself and its treatment, Graham said Yow isn't ready for the physical demands of being a head coach right now — everything from roaming the sideline and walking up and down stairs to locker rooms, to being at practices and team functions.

"It's a combination of all the factors together that don't allow her to do the full range of coaching activity," Graham said. "I can advise her, but all the decisions have been her own. ... At some point, she will make a decision to return or continue to postpone that based on how she feels."

Graham, who said Yow is being examined every few days, compared Yow's attitude to a golfer who "feels she needs to walk the course."

"She's foremost a teacher and this is her classroom," he said, "and if she can't be out there teaching these young women, she's not going to be there unless she can do the full job."