Miriam Justinger has been named Interim Head Women’s Basketball Coach. The announcement was made following the departure of Head Coach Jessie Ivey, for whom Justinger had served as an assistant coach for the last two seasons.
Justinger, who has also been Tiffin’s Recruiting Coordinator for the last two seasons, has been an integral part of Tiffin’s turnaround over that time. The team improved by two wins each year and reached the conference tournament in 2019-20 for the first time as a program since 2012. The Dragons have also established over 10 new DII-era program records during Justinger’s time in Tiffin.
Over the last two seasons, the Dragons have also made their mark nationally in academics. During the 2018-19 campaign, the Dragons led all of DII with a team mark of 3.809 and backed that up in 2019-20 with a fourth-place finish.
Justinger was selected in 2016 to be part of WBCA’s “So you want to be a coach program.” She followed that up with serving as part of the coaching staff at Seton Hill University for two seasons. She helped lead the Griffins to one of their best years in program history in 2017-18, as they posted a 20 win season and made it into the second round of the PSAC tournament. She also helped the Griffins to impressive performances in the classroom by helping the team to their fourth consecutive season in the Top 25 WBCA Academic honors.
Justinger, a Sylvania, Ohio native, graduated from Bowling Green with a degree in Exercise Science and a minor in Gerontology. Miriam also holds a Master’s of Business Administration degree from Seton Hill University.
“We are excited to have Miriam move into the role of Interim Head Coach,” said Athletic Director Lonny Allen. “In her two years here, we have seen the program grow and mature. We are confident the program will continue to develop under her leadership. We look forward to watching her improve our program. We have every confidence that she will take our program to the next level.”
“I’d like to thank Lonny Allen for giving me the opportunity to step into this new role,” said Justinger. “I would also like to thank Coach Ivey for bringing me to Tiffin to help build this amazing program and culture to where it is today. Working under her for the past two years has taught me and prepared me for what it takes to lead, build, and continue growing excellence within our program. Our team is a special group, whose work ethic and dedication have won them many accomplishments on and off the court. I wouldn’t want to be stepping into this role with any other Family and look forward to many more accomplishments to be had.”
Photo Courtesy Tiffin Athletics
https://gotiffindragons.com/sports/wbkb/2020-21/releases/20200908evyz27
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