Ohio Dominican Athletic Director Jeff Blair has appointed Brianna Sims as the new head women’s basketball coach of the Panthers. Sims becomes the eighth head coach in program history and fourth in the NCAA Division II era.
“We are excited to welcome Coach Sims to Ohio Dominican as our new head women’s basketball coach,” said Blair. “We had a number of qualified candidates, Brianna’s head coaching experience, passion for the student-athlete experience and her desire to return to NCAA II made her a great fit for our department and ODU.”
Sims spent the last five seasons as the head coach at the University of Dallas, a NCAA Division III institution. Under Sims, the Crusaders made three Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) tournament appearances (2021, 2023 and 2024) and improved to the team’s best mark since the 2014-15 season.
“I am thrilled to be the next Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Ohio Dominican University,” Sims stated. “I want to thank Athletic Director Jeff Blair along with Associate AD Sandy Rowley, the hiring committee, and countless others for this opportunity. I am looking forward to growing the women’s basketball team and being a mentor for the young women that come through our program.”
In her tenure with the Crusaders, Sims was the SCAC Coach of the Year in 2020-21 after she led the team to a 34% jump in conference wins after a 1-17 SCAC record in her first year. She coached the SCAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2021-22 and had three All-Conference Third Team members, ten Honorable Mention and three named to the All-Freshman Team.
16 players were placed on the SCAC Academic Honor Roll for the Winter in five years, holding at least a 3.25 GPA for the term.
The 2023-24 season saw Dallas win 13 overall games and seven in the conference, the highest overall mark for the program since the 2014-15. In back-to-back years, the Crusaders notched seven conference wins – the first time in nearly ten years.
Sims was an assistant coach at Hendrix College for three seasons prior to making the jump to head coach in Texas. In her three seasons, the Warriors made two Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Championship Game appearances (2018 and 2019). Hendrix qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament with a 2017 Tournament Championship.
As an assistant, Sims helped coach the 2016-17 SAA Player of the Year and the 2017-18 SAA Defensive Player of the Year. Six overall players were All-Conference in three seasons.
Sims spent three seasons at Bluffton University as a graduate assistant. The Beavers won the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Championship for the first time and clinched a berth in the NCAA Tournament, going 25-3 in 2015-16. She coached four All-HCAC players and the all-time leading scorer, Macey Sheerer. Sims earned her Master of Business Administration with a Sports Management concentration in 2016.
Sims played four years at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, a NCAA Division II school. She graduated from UMass Lowell with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts with a Psychology & Sociology concentration in 2013.
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