THIS Thurs., March 18th @ 9:05 PM, SHARON DAWLEY will join the Stations of Radio Vermont, as I fill in for Lee Kittell on his sports talk and rock show "SCORE," WDeV FM and AM!
The 2009-10 season marks the seventh season at the helm of the Vermont women's basketball program for head coach Sharon Dawley. She was introduced as head coach at the University of Vermont on June 11, 2003.
Dawley owns a career record of 238-142 in 15 years as a head coach at the collegiate level. She is 101-79 in six seasons at Vermont and ranks third among the all-time winningest coaches at UVM. She picked up her 100th career win at Vermont with a 66-56 win over Hartford in the semifinals of the 2009 America East Championship. Dawley earned her 200th career victory with an 80-64 win over Harvard on December 16, 2007.
During her stint on the UVM sidelines 23 of the 28 players that have taken the floor have earned either academic and/or athletic accolades from America East.
Last season (2008-09), Dawley led Vermont to its first America East Championship since 2000 with upset wins over No. 2 Hartford in the semifinals and No. 1 Boston University in the title game. With the championship win, the Catamounts made their first NCAA Tournament appearance in nine years. UVM drew No. 1 Connecticut in the first round of the NCAAs and fell to the eventual national champions.
Courtnay Pilypaitis and May Kotsopoulos led Vermont at the America East Tournament last season. Pilypaitis was named the Most Outstanding Player after averaging 20 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists and shooting 9.13 percent from the foul line. Kotsopoulos joined Pilypaitis on the all-tournament team. She averaged 17.3 points and shot 55.6 percent from three-point range and 82.6 percent from the foul line. Kotsopoulos garnered a spot on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I Women's Basketball First Team and was named the America East Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete for the second straight season.
In 2007-08, Dawley guided Vermont to one of its best seasons in school history. The Catamounts went 24-9 overall, recording the fourth most wins in school history, and were the America East Runners-up during the regular season with a 13-3 league mark. UVM also earned its second trip to the Postseason WNIT Tournament in school history and the first postseason appearance under Dawley. The Catamounts drew regional rival Dartmouth in the first round of the WNIT and Dawley faced her former mentor Chris Wielgus on the opposing sideline. Vermont defeated the Big Green to earn its third postseason victory in school history and advanced to the second round of the WNIT for the second time in the program's history.
Several Catamounts were honored following the 2007-08 season. Pilypaitis was named the America East Player of the Year and garnered a spot on the all-conference first team. Kotsopoulos became the first Catamount to be named the America East Defensive Player of the Year and was also selected to the all-conference second team and all-defensive team. She was also named the America East Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete.
The 2006-07 season was one of Dawley’s best at Vermont. She led UVM to a 19-12 record and a third place finish in the America East Conference. She guided the Catamounts to a 13-3 start, the best since the 1992-93 season. The year was also highlighted by Vermont’s first-ever win over a ranked opponent when the Catamounts upset No. 22 Boston College in the championship game of the URI Invitational.
After being picked to finish eighth in the 2006-07 America East Preseason Coaches Poll, Dawley led Vermont to a No. 3 seed and the Catamounts advanced to the semifinals of the America East Women’s Basketball Championship. Pilypaitis and Kotsopoulos were unanimous picks for the America East All-Rookie Team. Pilypaitis was a unanimous selection for the America East Rookie of the Year honor and Kotsopoulos became the first Vermont player to earn a spot on the America East All-Defensive Team.
The Catamounts were named one of the most improved teams in the country at the Division I level following the 2006-07 season. Dawley was also the recipient of the 2007 Charles Zabriskie Jr. Awards for Excellence.
The Catamounts posted a record of 9-18 overall in 2005-06. A pair of Vermont players earned America East All-Conference honors. During the season UVM advanced to the championship game of two in-season tournaments and three players earned all-tournament honors.
In 2004-05, the Catamounts were picked to finish seventh in the America East Preseason Coaches Poll, but surpassed the coaches expectations and earned the No. 4 seed in the America East Women's Basketball Championship with an overall record of 14-15 and a 9-9 mark in the league. The Catamounts defeated No. 5 Binghamton, marking Dawley's first America East Tournament victory, in the quarterfinals and advanced to the America East Semifinals for the 14th time in the history of the program.
During the season, the Catamounts advanced to the championship game of two regular season tournaments. UVM opened the 2004-05 campaign with a victory over Louisville in the TD Banknorth Classic at Patrick Gym. Vermont also traveled to San Diego to compete in the Surf-n-Slam Classic, earning a first round win over host San Diego before falling to Mississippi in the title game.
Following the 2004-05 season, Lani Boardman was named to the America East All-Conference Second Team, while teammate Alexis Castro earned America East All-Rookie honors. Boardman, an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team selection on 2004-05, was also named to the America East All-Championship Team after an impressive performance in the tournament.
In Dawley's first season on the Vermont sidelines (2003-04), she posted the best start by a first-year head coach at Vermont, guiding the Catamounts to a 6-2 mark to begin the season. She earned her first career victory as a Catamount in UVM's 72-51 season opening win over St. Francis (N.Y.) in the first round of the TD Bank Classic. Dawley recorded her first America East victory with a 92-76 win over Stony Brook (Jan. 13, 2004) at Patrick Gym.
Dawley also guided Vermont to a five-game win streak to close out the regular season, which included victories over No.1 Maine, No. 2 Binghamton and No. 4 Albany on the road. Vermont's victory over Maine in Alfond Arena snapped the Black Bear's 31-game conference win streak. At the end of the year, Aaron Yantzi was named to the America East All-Conference First Team.
Under Dawley's guidance, the Vermont women's basketball team has also earned success in the classroom. During her six years at the helm of the Catamounts, her student-athletes have earned 55 America East Academic Honor Roll citations, including 23 nominations to the America East Commissoner's Academic Honor Roll for achieving a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 or higher.
Kotsopoulos has earned the America East Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete honor twice heading into the 2009-10 season. Three players, Kotsopoulos, Boardman '05 and Brittney Cross '07 including Kotsopoulos have been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I Women's Basketball First Team and gone on to be on the national academic All-America ballot.
In 2008-09 Amy Rosenkrantz was a finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Women's Basketball Award. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award encourages student-athletes to use their platform in college athletics to make a positive impact of their circle of influence. Finalists were selected from a list of 30 candidates based on personal qualities that define a complete student-athlete. Each finalist displays numerous accomplishments across all four award pillars: classroom, community, character and competition.
In 2003-04, Dawley's first year at Vermont, the Catamounts ranked 10th out of the 25 Division I teams selected to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll for Division I. The award recognized the nation's highest team grade point averages (GPA) for the that season. The Catamounts posted a 3.35 overall GPA and were the top team among the women's basketball programs in the America East. In 2004-05, Vermont posted a team GPA of 3.20 in to lead all America East women's basketball teams.
Prior to arriving at Vermont, Dawley spent 10 years as a member of the women's basketball staff at nearby Dartmouth College. She served as an assistant coach from 1993-1997 and was promoted to associate head women's basketball coach under head coach Chris Wielgus in July of 1997.
During Dawley's decade-long stint on the Dartmouth sideline, the Big Green won four Ivy League Championships and advanced to the NCAA Tournament three times, including back-to-back appearances in 1999 and 2000. Dawley was instrumental in the Big Green's success over the 10 years. During her tenure every four-year player at Dartmouth graduated with at least one Ivy League Championship ring.
Before joining the Dartmouth staff, Dawley served as head women's basketball coach at Tufts University for nine seasons. She compiled a record of 137-62 (.688) and still owns the record for most wins and best winning percentage in the program's history.
She led the Jumbos to a Northeast Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship in just her third season (1986-87). Tufts reached the NIAC title game in her first five years. The Jumbos also reached the ECAC Championship semifinals in three of Dawley's final four seasons, the first postseason appearances in the program's history.
In October of 2009, Dawley was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. She was one of two inductees in the Division I College Women's Coaches category.
A native of Revere, Mass., Dawley earned a bachelor of arts degree in business from St. Anselm College (Manchester, N.H.) in 1983. She was a four-year member of the women's basketball team. During her senior season the Hawks posted a record of 22-6 overall, earned a #15 national ranking and won the ECAC Division II Championship.
www.uvm.edu/athletics/womens_basketball/coaches/coach_profile.php?sport=womens_basketball&coach_id=47
