Purdue University Fort Wayne and women’s basketball head coach Maria Marchesano have agreed to a contract extension, Director of Athletics Kelley Hartley Hutton announced.
Marchesano, who led Purdue Fort Wayne to the WNIT Super 16 in 2024, now has her contract extended through the 2029-30 season, adding two more years to her existing contract.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to have Coach Marchesano continue leading our women’s basketball program,” Hartley Hutton said. “She has built a fantastic culture and consistent staff to support a great group of women. It has been a pleasure to watch our teams grow and thrive under Maria’s leadership for the last three years.”
The Fort Wayne native took over the program in 2021, and led Purdue Fort Wayne to its best season in its Division I history in her third year. The Mastodons are coming off a 23-13 campaign that featured a semifinal finish at the Horizon League Championship and 13 league wins, which tied the program’s Division I record. The Mastodons won two games in the WNIT, the first victories in a non-league postseason tournament in the program’s history.
“The commitment and support shown by Kelley Hartley Hutton, Ron Elsenbaumer, Glen Nakata and the entire Purdue Fort Wayne administration in my time here as head coach has been unbelievable and I’m so grateful that they are continuing to put faith in me to lead this program. I couldn’t be more excited to continue to build with the PFW campus, this athletic department, and the greater Fort Wayne area. It’s an honor being a part of Mastodon Athletics and I don’t take that lightly!”
In her three years with the Mastodons, Marchesano has led the ‘Dons to eight All-League performances. Shayla Sellers was an All-League Third Team pick in 2021-22 and 2023-24 and made the All-Defensive Team in 2022-23, Amellia Bromenschenkel was a Third Team selection in 2022-23 and First Team honoree in 2023-24, and three ‘Dons earned All-Freshman Team honors: Ryin Ott, Erin Woodson and Renna Schwieterman.
In addition to her teams’ on-court accomplishments, the Mastodons have also been successful in the classroom. The team had the highest GPA in the Purdue Fort Wayne athletic department in 2022-23 with a 3.59 team GPA. They followed it up with a 3.63 a year later. The Mastodons have had eight College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honorees over the last two years: Ryin Ott, Riley Ott, Audra Emmerson (2), Bromenschenkel (2), Sydney Graber and Sellers.
Marchesano, an Elmhurst High School and Butler University alumna, returned to the Summit City after spending four years at Mount St. Mary’s, where she was named the Northeast Conference Coach of the Year in 2021. She led the Mount to the NCAA Tournament in 2021 after winning the NEC Tournament.
Tagged with: Horizon League
