UNI Athletics and head women’s basketball coach Tanya Warren have agreed to a two-year contract extension through the end of the 2028-29 season, as announced by the Panther Athletic Department on Wednesday.
“Under Coach Warren, our women’s basketball program has flourished both on the court, as well as in the classroom and in the community,” said UNI Director of Athletics David Harris. “Not only has she mentored numerous all-conference athletes, her team continues to achieve academic excellence on a yearly basis, ranking among the nation’s top programs in cumulative grade-point average. Coach Warren has taken the program to new heights with multiple WNIT and NCAA Tournament appearances, and has positioned her team annually to be among the top contenders in our league. We are ecstatic to have her leading our women’s basketball team and wish her nothing but the best in the seasons to come!”
Coach Warren enters her 17th season at the helm of the Panther’s women’s basketball team in 2023-24. Under her watch, the purple and gold have made 12 national postseason appearances, recorded six seasons of 20+ wins and posted 14 consecutive seasons with a .500 winning percentage or better. Warren, a two-time Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Coach of the Year recipient, has coached the Panthers to a pair of MVC Tournament titles in 2010 and 2011, as well as two regular season conference crowns (2011, 2017).
The Panthers posted another strong season in 2022-23 under Warren, recording a 23-10 mark and 16-4 record in league play. Forward Grace Boffeli earned First Team All-MVC honors after leading the conference with 15 double-doubles, while Maya McDermott was named Second Team All-MVC, averaging 14.7 points and a team-high 3.5 assists per game. UNI reached the semifinal round of the MVC Tournament and would earn a first round win in the WNIT at home over Colorado State in the postseason.
“I am extremely grateful to Athletic Director David Harris and Associate AD for Student Services Stacia Eggers for the opportunity to continue to lead Northern Iowa women’s basketball,” said Warren. “This is so much bigger than me. It is truly an honor and blessing to be a part of this program. It has been a fun, rewarding journey filled with many unforgettable moments. I couldn’t be more excited to continue this remarkable journey with my incredible staff and players. Together we will strive to make many more unforgettable moments for all who love the purple and gold.”
Since Warren’s arrival in the spring of 2007, the Panthers have made great strides in achieving newfound postseason success. UNI made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history in 2010, and again in 2011 and 2017. The Panthers have also made eight WNIT appearances under Warren’s leadership, which includes each of the previous three seasons and one of the deepest postseason runs in program history in 2021 to the WNIT semifinals. UNI also finished as the 2012 WBI Tournament runner-up.
The longest active tenured coach in the MVC, Warren has recorded 306 career wins, the most in program history and third-highest total in league history. Her 517 career games coached with the Panthers are also a school and MVC record. Warren’s 193 league victories rank third all-time in the MVC.
Warren has coached 24 All-MVC selections in her first 16 seasons, including 16 first team all-conference performers. Among the top players in the Warren era is UNI’s all-time leading scorer and Hall of Famer, Jaqui Kalin, a two-time Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year recipient (2011, 2013), two-time MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year (2011, 2013) and the 2008 MVC Freshman of the Year. Warren has also coached 14 MVC All-Tournament Team selections, five league all-defensive team honorees, a pair of MVC Sixth Players of the Year in Stephanie Davison (2015) and Ellie Howell (2017), and the 2009 MVC Newcomer of the Year in Kim Wypiszynski.
On the international stage, Warren helped the United States win gold at the 2015 World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea as an assistant coach.
Academics under Coach Warren have also been a pillar of success for the UNI women’s basketball program. The Panthers have earned 42 spots on the MVC’s Scholar-Athlete Team during her first 16 seasons, including 11 first team honorees and four MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award winners. As a team, UNI’s cumulative grade-point average has ranked in the top-25 in the NCAA Division I women’s basketball under Warren on multiple occasions, including eight appearances in the top-ten.
A Des Moines, Iowa native, Warren played collegiately at Creighton, scoring 1,566 points in her four-year career and averaging 19.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest as a senior. She was inducted into the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996 with her No. 10 jersey also later being retired by the Blue Jays.
Warren’s first collegiate coaching job came during the 1994-95 season as an assistant coach at Iowa State. She made the short trip up to Cedar Falls in 1995, spending six seasons as an assistant on the Panther sidelines under head coach Tony DiCecco. Following a three-year stint at Missouri and three seasons as Creighton’s associate head coach, Warren was named the seventh women’s basketball coach in UNI history in April 2007.
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