Laukaitis named Women's Basketball Head Coach at Holy Family - 1 month ago
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Holy Family University has named Bernadette Laukaitis '00 its new head women's basketball coach as announced by Director of Athletics Tim Hamill. Laukaitis becomes the program's sixth head coach in its 33-year history. 'I can't think of anyone better to lead our women's basketball team and take the program to the next level,' said Hamill. 'I'm happy to welcome Bernadette back to Holy Family where she was a standout player and began her coaching career as an assistant. She brings a ton of... [read more]
Holy Family University has named Bernadette Laukaitis '00 its new head women's basketball coach as announced by Director of Athletics Tim Hamill. Laukaitis becomes the program's sixth head coach in its 33-year history. 'I can't think of anyone better to lead our women's basketball team and take the program to the next level,' said Hamill. 'I'm happy to welcome Bernadette back to Holy Family where she was a standout player and began her coaching career as an assistant. She brings a ton of knowledge and experience with her after spending close to two decades with one of the top coaches in the area in Mike McLaughlin. Bernadette's enthusiasm for Holy Family basketball and her connection with our alumni can't be overlooked. I'm confident she's going to do great things with the program.' Laukaitis comes to Holy Family after spending the past 10 years at Division I University of Pennsylvania as an assistant coach. While at Penn, she assisted with all aspects of the program, including recruitment, on-the-court coaching at individual workouts/practices and scouting opponents while establishing game strategy. 'I am very honored to be named Head Women's Basketball Coach at Holy Family University,' said Laukaitis. 'It truly is my dream job as it is a place that I have an enormous amount of pride and passion for both as a player, assistant coach and now as a head coach. As it is difficult to leave a special place like Penn, I believe it has helped shape me and prepared me for this moment. I will miss the wonderful people that I had the pleasure to work with during my tenure and I look forward to following their continued success. I am looking forward to building my own foundation of success both on and off the floor by establishing strong relationships with the team, our alumni and the HFU community. Thank you Sr Maureen McGarrity and Tim Hamill for this amazing opportunity. I can't wait to start the next chapter in my coaching journey!' Laukaitis was part of four Ivy League Championships at Penn, including two Big 5 titles. The Quakers appeared in three NCAA Tournaments and two WNIT Tournaments with Laukaitis on staff. She also coached three Ivy League Players of the Year, four Ivy League Defensive Players of the Year and four Ivy League Rookies of the Year. In addition, 23 players earned All-Ivy honors and 15 were selected All-Philadelphia Big 5. Prior to Penn, Laukaitis spent the 2008-09 season as head coach at Division III Cabrini College. She led Cabrini to the 2009 CSAC Championship and a berth into the NCAA Tournament. Cabrini finished 23-5 overall and 15-1 in conference play that year; the most wins for the program since the 1994-95 season. Her coaching career began after graduating from Holy Family as an assistant with the Tigers. Laukaitis spent eight seasons on the Campus Center sidelines and went on to win five Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) titles and also appear in the program's first five NCAA Tournaments. During those eight seasons the Tigers went 234-27, including a 32-1 mark in 2007-08 when the team finished No. 4 nationally. Prior to the program's transition to NCAA Division II the Tigers appeared in three NAIA Tournaments. Laukaitis graduated from Holy Family in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education. A three-year team captain, Laukaitis ranks fifth in the Tigers' record book in steals (247) and ninth in assists (372). Courtesy of: athletics.holyfamily.edu
Player of the Year: Hailey Diestelkamp (5'11''-F-98) of Drury All-America Team Seairra Barrett (6'0''-F) of California University of Pennsylvania Marissa Brown (6'3''-F) of West Liberty University Hailey Diestelkamp of Drury University Camille Giardina (5'7''-G-97) of Florida Southern College Lexy Hightower (5'8''-G) of West Texas A&M University Jessica Kelliher (6'0''-F) of Lewis University Alexy Mollenhauer (6'0''-G-98) of Anderson University Hailey Tucker (6'2''-G) of Southwestern Okl... [read more]
All-America Honorable Mention Michaela Barnes (5'6''-G) of Edinboro University Daejah Bernard (5'7''-G-98) of Drury University Ay'Anna Bey (6'2''-F) of Benedict College Cassidy Boensch (6'4''-C) of Grand Valley State University Toni Brewer (5'10''-F) of University of West Florida Addy Clift (5'7''-G) of Oklahoma Christian University Marquita Daniels (5'7''-G) of Angelo State University Natalie Diaz (5'11''-G) of Dominican University Jaylyn Duran (5'7''-G) of Colorado Mesa University Raziyah Farrington (5'8''-G) of University of Charleston Anja Fuchs-Robetin (6'1''-F-96) of Florida Southern College Savanna Hanson (6'0''-G) of Azusa Pacific University Jessica Harris (5'5''-G) of Lander University Felecity Havens (5'11''-G) of University of Mount Olive Jodi Johnson (5'10''-G) of Ashland University Tyra Jones (6'0''-F) of Emporia State University Tatyana Legette (5'10''-F) of Fort Hays State University Ellie Logan (5'9''-G) of Northwest Nazarene University Kylie Lorenzen (6'0''-F) of Southern New Hampshire University Shareka McNeill (5'6''-PG) of Virginia Union University Halee Nieman (5'11''-F) of University of West Florida Haris Price (5'3''-PG) of Carson-Newman University Hayden Priddy (5'9''-G) of Southwestern Oklahoma State University Paige Redmond (5'8''-G) of University of Central Missouri McKayla Roberts (5'4''-PG) of Le Moyne College Olivia Robertson (5'10''-G/F) of Lubbock Christian University Alex Thomas (5'9''-G) of University of the Sciences in Philadelphia Hannah Wandersee (6'2''-C) of University of Alaska - Anchorage Kianna Wynn (6'0''-F) of Barton College Irisa Ye (5'9''-G) of University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN CLAIMS THE 2019 WOMEN'S DII BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - 3 months ago
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After all that, they hugged their sisters.
After the marathon that was the months between that first scrimmage in October and this Division II national championship game. After the war that was their semifinal match up with then-undefeated Drury. After the back-and-forth, grinding title-game with Southwestern Oklahoma State, a game the Bulldogs thought was theirs at one point before Maddi Chitsey (6'2''-F) tied the score with a 3 with three seconds left in the first overtime, a game that... [read more]
After all that, they hugged their sisters. After the marathon that was the months between that first scrimmage in October and this Division II national championship game. After the war that was their semifinal match up with then-undefeated Drury. After the back-and-forth, grinding title-game with Southwestern Oklahoma State, a game the Bulldogs thought was theirs at one point before Maddi Chitsey (6'2''-F) tied the score with a 3 with three seconds left in the first overtime, a game that needed two overtimes before a champion could be crowned. After all that, Maddi hugged her sister Bobbi, Olivia Robertson (5'10''-G/F) hugged her sister Juliana, Caitlyn Cunyus (5'6''-G) hugged her sister Channing. Lubbock Christian Chaparral hugged Lubbock Christian Chaparral. LCU had just won its second-ever national title by defeating SWOSU, 95-85, in the first ever DII title game to go to double-overtime. 'It's just so much different when your blood is next to you, sweat the sweat and just bled next to you all year,' Caitlyn Cunyus said. 'It's just so different, especially because not only are our sisters there but we're also, as sisters, so close with each other. I don't know. It's just kind of crazy. I don't know. It's pretty unexplainable.' Lubbock Chrisitan Coach Steve Gomez didn't think his Chaps were ready to win a national title when they lost to the Bulldogs, 77-75, back in December. He knew Southwestern Oklahoma State could. He told SWOSU coach Kelsi Musick and her Bulldogs as much after that game. But his team still had so much room to grow, and he's proud of how tough his team was battling through the adversity they endured to realize their potential and win it all. 'Just don't wake me up,' Gomez said. 'I don't know if this is actually real, what this team did.' Gomez understands how much a bounce here, a bounce there, a 3 hitting, a 3 missing, can determine who is able to hoist a trophy and who has to suffer the pain of defeat. He gets how this game can drive people crazy. It's not lost on him how close Southwestern Oklahoma State was to winning its first national title. Lubbock Christian (32-5) trailed by seven points at halftime. It watched SWOSU miss a 3 with seconds left in regulation that would have won the game. It missed a game-tying 3 with eight seconds left in the first overtime period. But that missed 3 from Olivia Robertson, on a play Gomez stole from Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens the Chaps had never run before, fell into the hands of LCU's Allie Schulte (5'10''-G). Schulte got the ball to Maddi Chitsey. Chitsey nailed a 3. And the Chaps out-scored the Bulldogs (35-2) by 10 in the second overtime. 'I didn't think it was going in,' said SWOSU's Hailey Tucker (6'2''-G), thinking back to Robertson's shot. 'I was right underneath the basket. I thought it was going to be short and it ended up getting over it.' 'Right there at the end of that first overtime I, you know, for a split second, I thought we had it,' Musick said. 'We were right there. It was within reach. It was in our hands. You could touch it and feel it but at the end of the day we just weren't able to finish.' Musick knew her team would bounce back from its slow start in the first quarter because it's something SWOSU had been able to do all year. That's why she told them during the first media timeout, the Chaps up 10-0 with 5:50 left in the first quarter, to just settle down, relax and stick to the game plan. But that rebound Schulte grabbed, that 3 that Chitsey hit. 'It kind of took the air out of us and we just didn't regain our poise,' Musick said. The Bulldogs are grateful for how far their season went. They're grateful for the fans who supported them along the way and the many who traveled to Alumni Hall on Friday to watch them play the Chaps who made this championship game feel similar to a home game. The loss is just going to sting for a while. Bethany Franks, who scored 25 points for SWOSU, said it will fuel her during offseason workouts. 'We're from the best university in the world,' Tucker said. 'The support for us is unreal.' Tucker finished with a game-high 30 points and 16 rebounds. Her double-double led the Bulldogs, who shot 33.3 percent from the field and 31.6 percent on 3s but also hit 17-of-19 free-throw attempts and scored 26 points off 18 LCU turnovers. Robertson led Lubbock Christian with 24 points. Chitsey recorded a double-double of her own with 22 points and 13 rebounds. The Chaps shot 51.4 percent from the field and 37.5 percent on 3s, hit 14-of-20 free throws and won the rebounding battle 48-45. Tucker, Franks, Chitsey and Robertson all made the all-tournament team alongside Drury's Daejah Bernard (5'7''-G-98). Roberston was named the Most Outstanding Player. And if you ask the tournament's top star if she ever doubted her Chaps would win, she's quick to say she didn't. 'I don't ever think that way,' Robertson said. 'Something in my heart was telling me that this was our game and it was our time. Even if it's not a big game my head doesn't go to, 'Oh no.' It goes to, 'Let's do this thing.'' Robertson, who with Bobbi Chitsey (6'1''-F) was a member of LCU's 2016 national championship team, wanted to win and win in a way that was an example to the players younger than her. She wanted to be the person for her teammates the veterans of the 2016 were for her. And not only did she do that, but when the clock ran out she was able to share that moment with her sister. The Elite Eight, from start to finish The DII Women's Elite Eight has come and gone at Alumni Hall in Columbus, Ohio, and this was your spot for the bracket, streaming information, scores, and live updates and analysis from the opening tip to the final whistle. Sixty-four teams entered the DII women's basketball championship, eight made it to the Elite Eight, four the semifinals and two the championship game. Indiana (Pa.) started things off in the quarterfinals with a 73-60 win against Azusa Pacific that featured runs from both sides that showed the ending was never a foregone conclusion. Southwestern Oklahoma State earned a 71-61 win during a back-and-forth game against Saint Anselm. Drury coasted to the semifinals with a 91-60 win against Nova Southeastern. And Lubbock Christian beat North Georgia by 45, 99-54, to advance. During the semifinals, No. 2 Southwestern Oklahoma State pulled off a 66-57 win against No. 3 Indiana (Pa.) and No. 5 Lubbock Christian upset No. 1 Drury, ending the Panthers' undefeated season, 69-60. Lubbock Christian then beat Southwestern Oklahoma State, 95-85, in a double-overtime national title game.
Final: Lubbock Christian - Southwestern Oklahoma 95-85 Semifinals: Lubbock Christian - Drury 69-60 Southwestern Oklahoma - Indiana, PA 66-57
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