Kristina Danella has been tabbed to lead the Keystone College women’s basketball program, announced by the athletic department on Wednesday.
“I am excited to be the next head women’s basketball coach at Keystone College and I would like to thank Keystone Athletic Director Dr. Matthew Grimaldi, Dr. Michael Mould and the Keystone staff for this opportunity to continue my passion of coaching back East,” DanelIa expressed.
“I am grateful to begin working for an athletic department and institution that values hard work, integrity and most importantly, people. I look forward to building the women’s basketball team into a CSAC competitor.”
Danella comes to Keystone after coaching at Division II San Francisco State in 2017-18. Prior to leading the Gators, Danella was the head coach at Division II Caldwell in New Jersey from 2014-17, going 65-26 with a 48-9 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference mark.
In 2016-17, she led the Cougars to the program’s first ever NCAA Division II Tournament appearance after going 25-6 en route to being named the 2017 CACC Coach of the Year, as well as the ECAC Coach of the Year.
Additionally at Caldwell, Danella served as the Associate Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator, where she served on the Gender and Equity Committee for the Central Atlanta Athletic Conference, and oversaw Caldwell’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, helping fundraise for charities such as Make-A-Wish.
Danella began her coaching career during the 2013-14 season as an assistant coach at Urbana University. When the head coach left unexpectedly in November, Danella was elevated to interim head coach. She proceeded to lead the Blue Knights to their most victories since the 1998-99 season, compiling an 18-10 record and finishing fourth in the Mountain East Conference with a 14-8 mark in league play.
In February 2014, Urbana was ranked eighth in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region rankings, the first regional ranking in program history.
A graduate of Marist University in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Danella played two years for the Red Foxes earning Metro Atlantic Conference Sixth Player of the Year honors as a senior in 2012-13, leading the MAAC in three-point shooting (.410) and ranking 12th nationally in free throw shooting (.887) while averaging 9.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. She helped guide her team to back-to-back MAAC regular season and tournament crowns while playing in two NCAA Division I Tournaments.
Prior to her time at Marist, Danella started her collegiate career at the University of Massachusetts and was named to the Atlantic 10 Conference All-Rookie Team in 2008-09. She tied the school record for three-pointers in a season that year with 58, and was selected the A-10 Rookie of the Week four times. Over her collegiate career, Danella combined to score 1,126 points at both UMass and Marist.
The Manalapan, N.J. native starred at Red Bank Catholic High School, graduating as the school’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder with 1,773 points and 1,156 rebounds. A three-time All-State First Team selection, she was a two-time Shore Conference Player of the Year and the 2007 Asbury Park Press Player of the Year.
Photo Courtesy KC Athletics
Tagged with: CSAC DIII
