Story: AJ Nelson, Senior Staff Writer, WHoopDirt.com
BOSTON, MA – The following women’s college basketball coaches have been honored with the Week 4 WHoopDirt.com Coach of the Week Award, presented by Just Play Solutions. These coaches are now eligible for the WHoopDirt.com National Coach of the Year Award, presented by Just Play Solutions, which will be announced at the conclusion of the 2025-26 college basketball season.
This marks the sixth season of WHoopDirt.com’s Coach of the Week and Coach of the Year programs. This week’s winners are listed below, followed by all previous weekly honorees from earlier in the season.
To nominate coaches for future weeks, please email [email protected] with your selection(s).
The Week 4 winners are:
NCAA D1: Linda Cimino – Dartmouth College
Coach Cimino led Dartmouth to another pair of victories this past week, giving the Big Green their first four-game winning streak since the 2017-18 season. Dartmouth trailed NJIT by seven points with under 5:30 remaining on Thursday, but scored 14 of the game’s final 20 points to come away with a thrilling 61-60 win. Back in action on Sunday, the Big Green defeated Iona by a score of 65-57 to improve to 7-2 on the season. With both wins coming on the road, Dartmouth moved to 4-1 away from home this season – their best road start since the 1988-89 campaign. Now 8-2 after a win over Franklin Pierce on Tuesday, the Big Green will take on in-state rival UNH on the road on Saturday.
NCAA D2: Travis Ponton – Queens College
Coach Ponton guided Queens to a couple of double-digit victories this past week, including one in the Knights’ conference opener. Queens defeated Southern New Hampshire by a score of 70-57 at home on Wednesday, taking down SNHU for the first time in program history. Following the win, the Knights hosted Roberts Wesleyan in their ECC opener on Sunday afternoon. Queens held the visitors to just 26.6% from the field and closed the game on a 15-2 run to come away with a hard-fought 59-45 victory. In his first year at the helm, Coach Ponton has guided the Knights, who have not won more than 10 games in a season since the 2018-19 campaign, to a 4-7 (1-0 ECC) record so far. He’ll look for win No. 5 when his squad travels to take on Felician in a non-conference matchup on Wednesday.
NCAA D3: Julie Prichett – Brandeis University
With two more wins this past week, Coach Prichett has Brandeis off to its best 10-game start since the 2008-09 campaign. The Judges hosted Bridgewater State on Wednesday, outscoring the visitors 23-7 in the third quarter en route to a 61-46 victory. Brandeis then closed out the semester with a wire-to-wire road victory over MIT on Saturday afternoon. The 67-59 triumph improved the Judges to 9-1 on the season as they head into an almost month-long break. They will return to action on January 6, when they visit Wheaton in what will be their last non-conference matchup of the season.
NAIA: David Moe – Dakota State University
Coach Moe’s Trojans showed why they are the 4th-ranked team in the nation this week, picking up road victories over a pair of teams who received votes in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll. Dakota State jumped out to a 9-0 lead at Montana State – Northern on Friday and never looked back, coming away with an impressive 73-63 triumph. Following the win, the Trojans remained in Montana for a matchup against Providence the next day. Dakota State used a strong second half to take a 69-62 victory and extend their winning streak to seven. Now 12-1 (7-0 Frontier) on the season, the Trojans will return to action after the New Year, when they return to Montana for a matchup against Carroll on January 2.
JUCO: Madonna Thompson – Shelton State Community College
Coach Thompson’s Lady Bucs put on a defensive clinic this week, holding each of their three opponents to 51 points or fewer as they extended their winning streak to five games. Shelton State, which entered the week as the No. 12 team in the NJCAA DI Top 25 Poll, held Pearl River to just 1-16 (6.3%) from three in a 60-36 win on Monday. The Lady Buccaneers then hosted the 7th annual Shelton State Classic over the weekend, facing off against then-No. 7 Walters State in their opening game on Saturday. Despite trailing by nine at the half, Shelton State was able to pull out a hard-fought 50-47 victory, handing the visitors their first loss of the season. Back in action the following day, the Lady Bucs outscored South Georgia Tech 71-36 over the final three quarters to pick up an 84-51 win. Now 10-2 on the season, Shelton State moved up to No. 11 in the most recent NJCAA DI Top 25 Poll. Their next matchup will come against St. Petersburg at the South Georgia Tech Holiday Classic on December 29.
2025-26 WHoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners
NCAA DI: Geno Auriemma – University of Connecticut
NCAA DII: Tim Kirby – Harding University
NCAA DIII: Melissa Smeltzer-Kraft – Shenandoah University
NAIA: Bill Harmsen – Dordt University
JUCO: Jaleel Taylor – Union College (NJ)
NCAA DI: Vic Schaefer – University of Texas
NCAA DII: Johnette Walker – Newberry College
NCAA DIII: Meg Barber – New York University
NAIA: DeWayne Burroughs – Shawnee State University
JUCO: Nicole Collier – State Fair Community College
NCAA DI: Molly Miller – Arizona State University
NCAA DII: Tasha Diesselhorst – Northwestern Oklahoma State University
NCAA DIII: Megan Phelps – Bowdoin College
NAIA: DeWitt Mandley – Wiley University
JUCO: Damel Ling – Monroe University – Bronx
