Diane Decker, a former assistant coach and interim head coach at East Stroudsburg University, has been named the Warriors’ head women’s basketball coach, the university has announced.
Decker comes to ESU from Bloomsburg University, where she was an assistant coach for seven seasons and helped the Huskies to five PSAC East regular season titles, one PSAC Tournament title and four NCAA Division II Tournament appearances.
Decker was an assistant coach at ESU during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, and was interim head coach during the 2007-08 season.
ESU’s 2005-06 squad went 16-12 overall, 9-3 in the PSAC East, and won the first of two straight PSAC East regular season titles. The 2006-07 team had a 25-4 record, setting a school record for wins, and went 11-1 in the PSAC East. The Warriors reached the PSAC Final Four for the first time since 1994-95.
In 2007-08, Decker was interim head coach as the Warriors went 12-15 (6-6 PSAC East) and qualified for the PSAC Tournament for the third straight season.
In seven seasons at Bloomsburg, the Huskies went 149-54 with five straight 20-win seasons. Bloomsburg has won the last five PSAC East regular season titles (2011-15), reached the last four NCAA Tournaments (2012-15) and won the 2013 PSAC Tournament championship. The Huskies advanced to the NCAA DII Atlantic Region final in both of the last two seasons.
Decker recruited, developed and coached four 1,000-point scorers and three players who combined for four PSAC East Athlete of the Year honors – Kelsey Gallagher (2011, 2012), Catherine Noack (2014) and Marla Simmons (2015). Gallagher earned All-America honors in 2011.
Prior to coaching at ESU, Decker was head coach at Freedom High School in Bethlehem for three seasons (2002-03 through 2004-05). She coached the Patriots to an 82-15 record, reaching the District XI Playoffs all three seasons, and coached two 1,000-point scorers.
She was previously the junior varsity coach and assistant varsity coach at Notre Dame High School in Easton from 1996 through 2001, and was an AAU coach and counselor for the Lehigh Valley Express in Allentown from 1991 through 2005.
Decker was a standout player at Marian Catholic High School and Villanova University. The Wildcats played in the NCAA Tournament all four years during her college career (1985-86 through 1988-89), including reaching the Sweet 16 during her sophomore season. She was second team All-Big East and team captain as a senior and helped Villanova to Big East championships as a sophomore and junior.
In high school at Marian Catholic, she was a Converse High School All-American and USA Today All-American Honorable Mention. She holds school records with 2,377 points and 1,116 rebounds, won the PIAA Class A state championship in 1984 and won two district championships. She was first team All-State as a junior and senior and was inducted to the Marian Catholic Hall of Fame in 2006.
http://www.esuwarriors.com/news/2015/6/15/WBB_061515.aspx?path=wbball
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