Southeastern Louisiana University has named Ayla Guzzardo as the new head women’s basketball coach, SLU Director of Athletics Jay Artigues announced on Monday.
Guzzardo is the seventh head coach in school history takes over the helm of the program after spending the 2016-17 season as the lead assistant coach on the Lady Lion staff. Guzzardo’s hiring is pending the approval of the University of Louisiana System’s Board of Supervisors.
“We believe Ayla will help our women’s basketball program continue to move forward towards our goal of consistently competing for Southland Conference championships,” Artigues added. “We expect all of our student-athletes to excel in the classroom, in the community and in competition and Ayla is the right person to continue to lead our Lady Lions to those objectives.”
Guzzardo, a Hammond native and St. Thomas Aquinas High School alum, joined the Southeastern program after spending four seasons as an assistant coach at Akron under head coach Jodi Kest. During her time on the Zips’ staff, Guzzardo coached Kasie Cassell, who led the nation with 7.8 assists per game and also worked with four 1,000-point career scorers at Akron.
In 2013-14, Guzzardo was part of an Akron staff that helped the team to its first-ever MAC Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. That season the Zips ranked among the Division I leaders in scoring (13th) and assists (7th), while featuring the nation’s top scoring tandem in Hanna Luburgh (22.2 ppg) and Rachel Tecca (22.1 ppg).
“I’m happy for this opportunity and thankful to our administration for having the faith in me to lead our program,” Guzzardo said. “Working with our team the past season, I’ve seen the potential of Southeastern Women’s Basketball. I’m excited for the chance to grow our program and to be able to do so in my hometown.”
Guzzardo joined the Akron coaching staff after playing point guard for two seasons for the Zips. She ranked among the MAC leaders in assists, assist/turnover ratio and steals per game. Her 133 assists in 2009-10 were the fifth-highest single-season total in school history and she ended her career ranked ninth in Akron history with 238 career assists.
Guzzardo began her collegiate career as Shelton State Community College, where she helped her team to a 62-9 record and a pair of conference championships in her two seasons.
Prior to taking the job on the Southeastern staff, Guzzardo spend the 2014-15 season on the STA coaching staff, helping her alma mater to an appearance in the Top 28.
A 2010 graduate of Akron, Guzzardo earned her bachelor’s degree in business organization, before going on to earn her master’s degree in 2012 in sport science and coaching.
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