Army West Point Women’s Basketball head coach Missy Traversi announced the addition of Sacha Santimano to her coaching staff on Thursday morning. Santimano will join the program as an assistant coach.
“Sacha has proven her ability to be successful at a variety of levels,” said coach Traversi. “She has served over seven years in the United States Air Force. She understands the service commitment our cadet-athletes are signing up, which allows her to connect with them on a deeper level. Sacha’s attention to detail makes her an excellent fit for our coaching staff and the United States Military Academy. What impresses me the most about Sacha is her ability to find a way and maximize the talent that she has around her.”
Santimano comes to Army after serving as the 2021-22 season as the head coach for the Bowdoin Women’s Basketball program. In her first season with the Polar Bears, she led the program to a record of 16-9, opening her first season with a 7-0 start and guided the Polar Bears to the New England Small College Athletic Conference quarterfinals.
Before her stint in Brunswick, Maine, the 2019-20 New England Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year, Santimano had an excellent ten-year stretch at Eastern Nazarene. During her tenure, she led the Lions to a 138-107 record, including an impressive 49-14 mark in her last three seasons. The Lions reached the postseason on eight occasions during the 10-year span while more than a dozen of Santimano’s student-athletes earned All-Conference honors. In her first season at the helm of the program, she was named the 2011-12 Commonwealth Coast Conference Coach of the Year.
“I am excited to become a part of the Army West Point family,” said Santimano. “I would like to thank Coach Traversi for this opportunity, and I look forward to learning from her staff. They have established a strong culture and it is an honor to be a part of it. I’m ready to hit the ground running and help in any way possible.”
Santimano served in the U.S. Air Force Reserves and brings coaching experiences from across the nation, including assistant coach positions at the University of St. Mary’s (Kan.), University of the Cumberlands (Ky.), and Asbury University (Ky.). She got her first head job as the interim head coach at Allen Community College (Kan.) in 2010, before landing at Eastern Nazarene in 2011.
Santimano earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from South Dakota State University in 2003 and earned her master’s in teaching from University of Cumberlands.
