Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) women’s basketball has added Tommy Turgeon as the new assistant coach. Turgeon has joined the Saints this fall in preparation for the team’s 12th season scheduled to begin in winter.
Athletic Director Shane Hurley commented, “We are pleased to announce the hiring of Thomas Turgeon. Through our interviews, it became clear that he lived by the values of our community at OLLU and would bring the type of motivation, understanding and connections to assist our women’s basketball program’s continued growth on and off the court.”
Turgeon comes to OLLU from Colorado Northwestern Community College in Rangely, Colo., where he was the assistant coach for one year. Prior to that, he was interim director of women’s basketball operations at NCAA D1 University of Denver, an NCAA D1.
After a position at Wagner College, an NCAA D1 school in New York City, Turgeon spent two seasons at Colorado State University-Pueblo, an NCAA D2 school in Pueblo, Colo. While there, the team was the 2015-2016 RMAC Tournament Champions and the 2016-2017 RMAC Regular Season Champions. The 2016 team was the No. 2 seed and the 2017 team was the No. 1 seed in the NCAA D2 Tournament; the 2017 team was ranked as high as No.3 in the nation. The two-season combined record was 54-10.
Turgeon was also the assistant coach for the Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The team was the 2014-2015 Region XI Champions and placed fifth in the NJCAA D1 Tournament. Its two-season record was 56-11.
“Coaching basketball is one of the greatest privileges of my life,” Turgeon said, “and I am very blessed to be working with the OLLU women’s basketball program. I am extremely excited to work with and learn from the illustrious Coach Stacy Stephens. I am very thankful to her and athletic director Shane Hurley for this amazing opportunity.”
Turgeon earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sport Management from Bellevue University in Bellevue, Neb. He is currently pursuing a Business Administration in Management from Wagner College.
Stephens commented, “Coach Turgeon brings basketball insight that will help our team continue to grow, while also possesses organizational skills, creative thinking, a willingness to get things done and operational knowledge from NCAA DI and DII and NJCAA coaching levels.
“I believe that Coach Turgeon has a bright future in front of him, and I am very happy to have someone with his level capabilities on my staff,” Stephens concluded.
The women’s basketball team is one of the most successful teams at OLLU. The Saints, who are scheduled to begin their 12th season this winter, has an overall 278-83 record and 184-32 in the Red River Athletic Conference. In Stephens’ first season as head coach, during which she earned Conference Coach of the Year, the team went 26-6 overall and 17-1 in conference. The team had won the conference regular season and was on its way to its ninth consecutive NAIA WBB D1 Championship Tournament as the fourth seed when the NAIA canceled their season due to COVID-19.
Despite not being able to play at nationals, Stephens’ team set several records, including most points scored overall (3,227), most points scored in conference (2,027), most points scored per game overall (100.84), most points scored per game in conference (112.61), most points scored in a game (136), most field goals in a season (1,174), best field goal percentage in a season (.469), most field goals made in a game (54 vs. Southwest – 2/1/2020)), best free throw percentage in a season (.802), best turnover margin in a season (+11.68) and most games scoring at least 100 points in a season (16) and consecutively in a season (7).
The team also led the NAIA in scoring offense/game (100.844), scoring margin (29.000), turnover margin (11.688), field-goal percentage (.469), free-throw percentage (.802) and total scoring offense (3,227).
Photo Courtesy OLLU Athletics
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