Trevecca Nazarene University Athletic Director Mark Elliott has announced women’s basketball head coach Karen Booker, who recently completed her third season with the Trojans, will not return next season.
Of the coaching change, Athletic Director Mark Elliott said, “There are a lot of components when evaluating the success and direction of our athletic programs. While this decision is very difficult, it’s important to acknowledge the on-court success that our program had under Karen’s leadership. We thank Karen for her contributions to the women’s basketball program.”
Entering the 2024-25 season, Booker, the sixth coach in program history, saw a significant change in the roster for the first time during her tenure. Though seven players returned, they had combined for 11 starts in 2023-24. Eight of those starts were from Jayda Woods, whose season ended due to an injury after nine games. Only one of the other six returners, Amaya Thomas, averaged more than 11 minutes per game.
Despite early wins at Kentucky State University and at home over Thomas More University last fall, the team started the 2024-2025 season 2-6 overall. The Trojans moved to the Gulf South Conference this year and began conference play with a 1-7 record. After picking up back-to-back league wins, against Mississippi College and Christian Brothers University, the Trojans dropped 10 of their final 12 conference games.
In her first season on the Hill, 2022-23, Booker and her team produced a record-breaking season that was the best in Trevecca’s NCAA Division II era for the program. Despite being picked 12th in the Great Midwest preseason coaches’ poll, the team finished 22-10 and 15-5 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, finishing third overall. Prior to that campaign, Booker added just two freshmen and a reserve to a roster that had won just five games the previous season. The team went undefeated at home for the first time in program history, going 14-0. Trevecca earned a No. 3 seed in the conference tournament, advanced to the Great Midwest finals and qualified for their first NCAA Division II Championships appearance. The No. 5 seed in the Midwest Regional, the Trojans won their opening game and then lost to Ashland, the eventual national champions.
In Booker’s second season, 2023-24, the Trojans started with exhibition wins over Fisk and NCAA Division I’s Austin Peay State University. From there, the Trojans went 4-3 in the non-conference portion of their schedule, only falling to nationally ranked teams during that stretch. The Trojans finished 19-12 overall and 13-7 in conference play, which included an eight-game winning streak near the end of the regular season. Trevecca earned the sixth seed in the Great Midwest tournament and knocked off third-seeded Northwood before losing in the finals. The Trojans advanced to the NCAA Midwest Regionals for the second consecutive year, this time as the region’s No. 8 seed, and fell to top-seeded Grand Valley State.
Mark Elliott begins the search for the seventh women’s basketball coach in program history.
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