Story: AJ Nelson, Senior Staff Writer, WHoopDirt.com
BOSTON, MA – The following women’s college basketball coaches have been honored with the Week 8 WHoopDirt.com Coach of the Week Award, presented by Just Play Solutions. These coaches are now eligible for the WHoopDirt.com National Coach of the Year Award, presented by Just Play Solutions, which will be announced at the conclusion of the 2025-26 college basketball season.
This marks the sixth season of WHoopDirt.com’s Coach of the Week and Coach of the Year programs. This week’s winners are listed below, followed by all previous weekly honorees from earlier in the season.
To nominate coaches for future weeks, please email [email protected] with your selection(s).
The Week 8 winners are:
NCAA D1: Greg Todd – Eastern Kentucky University
With two more wins this past week, Coach Todd has Eastern Kentucky off to its best start in conference play in over 20 years. The Colonels trailed North Alabama by 13 at halftime on Thursday, but shot 17-26 (65.4%) from the field in the second half to fight back and come away with an 80-78 road victory. The comeback win marked victory No. 350 in Coach Todd’s NCAA head-coaching career, which includes stops at Transylvania and Morehead State. Following the milestone win, the Colonels traveled to take on Central Arkansas, out-scoring the hosts 28-13 in the second quarter en route to a 64-54 triumph. The victory improved Eastern Kentucky’s Atlantic Sun record to 4-0 – the first time since the 2002-03 season that the Colonels achieved that record to begin conference play. EKU will look to extend its overall winning streak to seven when it hosts Lipscomb on Thursday.
NCAA D2: Emry Tsitouris – Lenoir-Rhyne University
Coach Tsitouris’ Bears picked up in 2026 right where they left off in 2025, winning another pair of games by double-digits to extend their winning streak to five. On Wednesday, Lenoir-Rhyne jumped out to a 46-16 halftime lead over Newberry en route to an 86-51 victory. Returning to action on Saturday, the Bears knocked down a program record 17 threes in a 103-92 triumph over Carson-Newman. Lenoir-Rhyne is now 10-4 (6-2 SAC) in Coach Tsitouris’ first year at the helm – already nearly matching last year’s win total of 12. The Bears will look to keep it rolling when they visit No. 9 Coker on Wednesday evening.
NCAA D3: Alison Montgomery – Bates College
Coach Montgomery’s Bobcats got off to a strong start in NESCAC play this past week, going 2-0 with a win over a fellow Top-25 squad. The then-13th ranked Bobcats hosted then-No. 19 Amherst on Friday, leading wire-to-wire in a 63-54 victory. Bates again did not trail in their next contest – a 69-60 triumph over Hamilton on Sunday afternoon. The wire-to-wire wins marked the first time since the 2008-09 campaign that Bates did not trail in either of its first two NESCAC contests. Remarkably, the Bobcats have not trailed in their last four games overall. Now 13-1 (2-0 NESCAC) on the season, Bates will look to make it eight consecutive wins when it visits No. 8 Bowdoin on Friday night.
NAIA: Abby Stutts – Freed-Hardeman University
Coach Stutts’ 6th-ranked Freed-Hardeman squad faced a pair of tough tests as conference play opened this past week, but passed them both to remain undefeated on the campaign. On Thursday, Lady Lions senior Brooklyn Crouch drilled a floater with three seconds remaining to propel Freed-Hardeman to a 76-74 victory over No. 25 Georgetown, which had entered the contest with a 15-1 record. Back in action on Saturday, the Lady Lions had four different players score at least 15 points in an 82-73 win against No. 12 Cumberlands. With the wins, Freed-Hardeman improved to a perfect 17-0 (2-0 MSC) on the season. The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Lady Lions, as their next three contests will come against RV Lindsey Wilson, No. 3 Campbellsville, and No. 1 Bethel.
JUCO: Chelsea Waters – Tallahassee State College
Coach Waters continued her turnaround of the Tallahassee State College program this past week, as she led the Lady Eagles to their first win over a top-10 team in seven years. Tallahassee State began its week with a pair of dominant performances against Enterprise State Community College, winning 100-37 at home on Tuesday and 96-24 on the road on Thursday to close out the non-conference schedule. The Lady Eagles then opened up Panhandle Conference play at home on Saturday with a tough matchup against Northwest Florida State – the then-No. 2 team in NJCAA DI. Tallahassee State was able to come away with a 61-59 in a tightly-contested battle, marking the first time in 10 years that the Lady Eagles won their conference home opener. In her first year at the helm, Coach Waters has guided Tallahassee State to a 13-5 record, already tying the program’s win total from the previous two seasons combined. She will look to lead the Lady Eagles to their sixth straight victory when they face off against Pensacola State on the road on Wednesday evening.
2025-26 WHoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners
NCAA DI: Geno Auriemma – University of Connecticut
NCAA DII: Tim Kirby – Harding University
NCAA DIII: Melissa Smeltzer-Kraft – Shenandoah University
NAIA: Bill Harmsen – Dordt University
JUCO: Jaleel Taylor – Union College (NJ)
NCAA DI: Vic Schaefer – University of Texas
NCAA DII: Johnette Walker – Newberry College
NCAA DIII: Meg Barber – New York University
NAIA: DeWayne Burroughs – Shawnee State University
JUCO: Nicole Collier – State Fair Community College
NCAA DI: Molly Miller – Arizona State University
NCAA DII: Tasha Diesselhorst – Northwestern Oklahoma State University
NCAA DIII: Megan Phelps – Bowdoin College
NAIA: DeWitt Mandley – Wiley University
JUCO: Damel Ling – Monroe University – Bronx
NCAA DI: Linda Cimino – Dartmouth College
NCAA DII: Travis Ponton – Queens College
NCAA DIII: Julie Prichett – Brandeis University
NAIA: David Moe – Dakota State University
JUCO: Madonna Thompson – Shelton State Community College
NCAA DI: Krista Gerlich – Texas Tech University
NCAA DII: Heather Macy – Nova Southeastern University
NCAA DIII: Gabby Holko – Susquehanna University
NAIA: Suntana Anderson – Marian University (IN)
JUCO: Mitch Rolls – Chipola College
Week 6
Winter Break – No Winners Selected
Week 7
Winter Break – No Winners Selected
