Maria Marchesano has been named the head coach for the Mount St. Mary’s University women’s basketball program, as announced by Director of Athletics Lynne Robinson on Thursday.
“We are extremely pleased that Coach Marchesano has agreed to join the Mount,” said Mount St. Mary’s University Interim President Tim Trainor, Ph.D. “In a relatively short time she’s built an impressive resume, and it’s clear that she understands what’s necessary for our student-athletes to succeed both on and off the court.”
“We are very pleased to welcome Maria Marchesano to Mount St. Mary’s University as our new head women’s basketball coach,” said Robinson. “Maria has been a part of building winning basketball programs throughout her coaching career. We were very impressed with Maria’s credentials, not just as a coach, but also as a leader and mentor of student-athletes. Under Maria’s leadership, the future of the Mount St. Mary’s women’s basketball program is very bright.”
Marchesano comes to the Mount following a stint as an associate head coach at IUPUI, where she helped guide the squad to the most wins in a season in program history in 2016-17, as the Jaguars finished at 24-9 overall and 12-4 in Summit League play. IUPUI made its first appearance in the conference championship game since 2008, and also earned a berth in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) to cap off the outstanding season. During the campaign, the Jags collected seven wins versus RPI top-100 teams and earned their highest RPI ranking in program history (53). Marchesano coached three All-Summit League honorees and one Academic All-Summit League member during her season with the Jags.
“I am tremendously excited and very thankful to be joining the Mount St. Mary’s family,” said Marchesano. “As I went through each step of this process, I became more and more convinced that the Mount is not only a great environment with amazing leadership, but a place with all the tools to be successful. I can’t thank President Trainor, Lynne Robinson, and the entire search committee enough for this opportunity.”
Prior to her time at IUPUI, Marchesano served for three years as the head coach at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio. Marchesano led the team to 79 wins during her three seasons, including back-to-back 20-win campaigns in 2014-15 and 2015-16. The Cavaliers made two GLIAC Tournament Final Four appearances, won three-straight Mayor’s Cup titles, and defeated a pair of Division I teams (Butler & Kent State) during Marchesano’s tenure at the helm.
In her final season at Walsh, she guided the Cavaliers to a 20-9 overall record and 16-6 mark in GLIAC play, as they earned home-court advantage for the first time ever in the conference tournament. During the regular season, the Cavaliers registered an upset-victory over third-ranked Ashland University, which was the highest-ranked opponent Walsh had ever defeated as a Division II program.
Marchesano got her first experience as a head coach at Urbana University in Urbana, Ohio midway through the 2011-12 season. She inherited a 2-8 team in January, before turning the season around, guiding the Knights to a 12-7 record after taking over the helm, which included an eight-game winning streak at home. The team qualified for the D-II Ohio Independent Championships, and Marchesano was named the D-II Independent Coach of the Year. The following season, Marchesano led the Knights to a G-MAC Conference Tournament Championship.
Before her time at Urbana, Marchesano served as an assistant coach for both the women’s basketball and softball programs at Manchester College in North Manchester, Indiana from 2010-12.
During her collegiate career, Marchesano was a four-year letter winner at Butler University in women’s basketball, and also played one season on the softball team. The Fort Wayne, Indiana native was named the Butler Freshman Female Athlete of the Year, earned Horizon League All-Newcomer Team honors, and was a recipient of the Butler Team Community Service Award. Marchesano finished her career as the second-best three-point shooter in program history. Following her collegiate career, she went on to sign three professional basketball contracts and five professional softball contracts in the Italian Federation.
Marchesano graduated from Butler in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in integrated communications. She received her master’s degree in athletics administration from Northcentral University in 2013.
http://mountathletics.com/sports/wbkb/2016-17/releases/20170501lc7abb
Photo Courtesy Mount Saint Mary’s Athletics
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