Bowling Green State University Director of Athletics Bob Moosbrugger has announced the hiring of Robyn Fralick as the new head coach of the Falcon women’s basketball program. Fralick, the architect of the two greatest offensive seasons in NCAA Division II women’s basketball history, comes to BGSU after 10 seasons at Ashland University, the last three as head coach.
Fralick has a head-coaching record of 104-3, for an incredible winning percentage of .972. The Eagles won the NCAA Division II National Championship in 2016-17 before returning to the national championship game and earning a runner-up finish in ’17-18.
Fralick’s winning percentage is the best in NCAA history at any level (minimum of 100 games coached).
“We are absolutely thrilled to be able to announce Coach Fralick as the next women’s basketball head coach,” Moosbrugger said. “Robyn is a tremendous coach, leader and role model to young women. While her record and awards speak for themselves, what impressed me the most was the love for the game, teaching and developing young women.”
Recently, Fralick was named the 2018 United States Marine Corps/Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year.
Fralick and the Eagles have advanced to the NCAA Division II national championship game four times since 2012, with national championships in both 2013 and ’17, and runner-up finishes in 2012 and this season. AU won 73 consecutive games, the longest streak in NCAA Division II history, before a loss in the national title game.
“I am very thankful for the opportunity to be the Head Coach at Bowling Green State University,” Fralick said. “I am keenly aware of the rich tradition of the women’s basketball program and am honored to be leading this team. Bowling Green State University is a great mix of both academic and athletic excellence, and I am eager for my family to become a part of the community and to get started.”
Ashland finished the 2017-18 season with a 36-1 record. The Eagles scored 3,644 points this season, the highest single-season total in the history of NCAA women’s basketball, regardless of division. Two of Ashland’s three seniors, Laina Snyder and Andi Daugherty, scored over 2,000 points in their collegiate careers, while the team’s third senior, Julie Worley, scored over 1,000 career points and was named the NCAA Division II Tournament’s Elite 90 Award winner. That award goes to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s championships.
AU sophomore Jodi Johnson was named the 2017-18 NCAA Division II Player of the Year by both the Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association (D2CCA) and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), and both Johnson and Snyder were named D2CCA First-Team All Americans, while Daugherty earned third-team honors.
The Eagles posted a perfect 20-0 record in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) for the second-straight season. Fralick and Johnson earned GLIAC Coach- and Player-of-the-Year honors, respectively, in 2017-18.
The success of the 2017-18 season came on the heels of a 2016-17 campaign that was one of the most impressive in women’s basketball history. The ’16-17 season saw Fralick guide Ashland to the first 37-0 record in the history of Division II women’s basketball, and the program’s second national championship. Ashland scored the most points in a season in D-II women’s hoops history at 3,456, a record broken by the 2017-18 Eagles.
After the season, Fralick was named Coach of the Year by the WBCA, the NCAA Division II Basketball Bulletin, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Columbus Dispatch for the state of Ohio.
In 2015-16, Fralick’s first year at the helm, Ashland went 31-2, hosted the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional tournament, and won the GLIAC Tournament, GLIAC regular season and GLIAC South Division championships. AU finished the season ranked No. 7 in the USA TODAY Sports Division II Top 25 coaches’ poll.
Fralick earned both GLIAC and Columbus Dispatch Ohio Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year honors for her efforts as a rookie head coach.
Fralick was an assistant coach during her first three seasons with the Eagles, and was the program’s associate head coach from 2011-12 to 2014-15. During her time as associate head coach, the Eagles were 113-21 (.843).
As associate head coach, Fralick handled a number of responsibilities, including serving as the program’s recruiting coordinator and being heavily involved in scouting, practice preparation and on-the-floor coaching. During her first four seasons, Fralick focused on perimeter play and guard development. She worked with post players the last several seasons in that role. During Fralick’s seven seasons as an assistant coach, the Eagles won 74 percent of their games.
The 2011-12 campaign saw the Eagles go undefeated in GLIAC regular-season play and won the GLIAC tournament. AU hosted the Midwest Regional and went on to finish as the Division II runner-up with a final record of 33-2.
The 2012-13 season was an historic one, as the Eagles again won GLIAC regular-season and tourney titles.
AU hosted and won the Midwest Regional tournament and won the first national championship in school history, finishing the season at 37-1.
The 2014-15 season started slow for the Eagles with a youth-filled roster, but they finished strong with a 25-9 record, including a Sweet Sixteen finish in the NCAA tournament.
Before coming to Ashland, Fralick was an assistant coach at the University of Toledo during the 2007-08 season. She served as the director of basketball operations at Western Michigan University from 2005-07, and was an assistant coach at Appalachian State during the 2004-05 campaign.
Fralick enjoyed a stellar playing career at Davidson College (2000-04). When she left the program, she was fourth in career assists, eighth in career steals and 12th in career free throw percentage. Fralick played in 114 games and started 64 contests for the Wildcats.
Fralick is a 2004 graduate of Davidson, having earned her undergraduate degree in psychology with a minor in religion. She earned her master’s degree in counselor education from Western Michigan in 2007.
Fralick and her husband, Tim, have a son, William, and a daughter, Clara. Tim has spent the last three seasons as a volunteer assistant coach on the AU staff.
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