Carolyn Kieger
American basketball player and coach
 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Penn State |
| Conference | Big Ten |
| Record | 63–86 (.423) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | (1983-08-17) August 17, 1983 (age 40) Roseville, Minnesota |
| Playing career | |
| 2002–2006 | Marquette |
| Position(s) | Point guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2008–2014 | Miami (FL) (assistant) |
| 2014–2019 | Marquette |
| 2019–present | Penn State |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 2007–2008 | Marquette (dir. of ops.) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 162–150 (.519) |
| Tournaments | 2–3 (NCAA Division I) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| |
| Awards | |
| Big East Co-Coach of the Year (2018) | |
Carolyn Kieger (born August 17, 1983) is the head women's college basketball coach for the Pennsylvania State University Lady Lions basketball team.[1] Formerly, she was the head coach for her alma mater, the Marquette Golden Eagles, from 2014 to 2019.[2][3]
Playing career
Kieger was born in Roseville, Minnesota. She attended college at Marquette University, where she was a four-year starter for the Golden Eagles, a three-year captain and is still their all-time assists leader. Kieger is the only player in program history with at least 1,200 career points, 400 career rebounds and 600 assists. Careerwise, she averaged 10.3 points per game and was a second team All-Big East Conference selection for the 2005–06 season, as well as, a second team All-Conference USA selection for the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons. During her senior year, she was a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award. In 2006, she graduated cum laude from Marquette with a bachelor's degree in broadcasting and electronic communications.[2]
Coaching career
Kieger spent six seasons as an assistant coach for the women's basketball team at the University of Miami under head coach Katie Meier. She primarily focused on developing players in the guard position. During her time at Miami, the Hurricanes made three appearances in the NCAA Tournament and two appearances in the WNIT, including a trip to the final.[4]
Kieger was hired as the head coach of the Marquette women's basketball team on May 1, 2014, succeeding the program's all-time winningest head coach Terri Mitchell.[5] In five seasons at the helm of her alma mater, Kieger went 99–64 and appeared in three NCAA tournaments. In the 2018–19 season, Kieger's team notched a program record 27 wins, winning the 2019 Big East regular season title and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.[6] Kieger coached Marquette's first Big East Players of the Year in consecutive seasons: Allazia Blockton in 2017–18 and Natisha Hiedeman in 2018–19.[4]
On April 3, 2019, Kieger left her alma mater to become the head coach of the Penn State Lady Lions. Kieger expressed her desire to compete for national titles as the primary reason for her move to Penn State.[7]
Kieger struggled after the move to Penn State, leading her team to only one conference win in the 2019–20 season. The Lady Lions gradually improved year over year, improving their win total each season. However, the team continued to struggle and finished in the bottom fourth of the Big Ten each year from 2019 to 2023. In 2024, the Lady Lions got off to a torrid pace, beginning the season 16–5 and fueling speculation that the team would make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014.[8][9] However, a six game losing streak dashed the team's tournament hopes and they would fall to Villanova in the WBIT semifinal.[10]
Player stats
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | Points | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–03 | Marquette | 30 | 338 | 46.7% | 42.6% | 87.5% | 4.7 | 4.2 | 1.5 | – | 11.3 |
| 2003–04 | Marquette | 32 | 336 | 37.1% | 29.7% | 74.5% | 3.6 | 5.9 | 2.0 | – | 10.5 |
| 2004–05 | Marquette | 30 | 355 | 41.7% | 26.6% | 81.8% | 3.7 | 6.2 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 11.8 |
| 2005–06 | Marquette | 32 | 248 | 40.3% | 27.8% | 77.6% | 3.7 | 6.1 | 1.1 | – | 7.8 |
| Career | 124 | 1277 | 41.2% | 31.0% | 80.5% | 3.9 | 5.6 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 10.3 |
Source: NCAA[11]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marquette Golden Eagles (Big East Conference) (2014–2019) | |||||||||
| 2014–15 | Marquette | 9–22 | 4–14 | 8th | |||||
| 2015–16 | Marquette | 14–16 | 9–9 | 5th | |||||
| 2016–17 | Marquette | 25–8 | 13–5 | 3rd | NCAA Division I First round | ||||
| 2017–18 | Marquette | 24–10 | 15–3 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Second Round | ||||
| 2018–19 | Marquette | 27–8 | 15–3 | 1st | NCAA Division I Second Round | ||||
| Marquette: | 99–64 (.607) | 56–34 (.622) | |||||||
| Penn State Lady Lions (Big Ten Conference) (2019–present) | |||||||||
| 2019–20 | Penn State | 7–23 | 1–17 | 14th | |||||
| 2020–21 | Penn State | 9–15 | 6–13 | 11th | |||||
| 2021–22 | Penn State | 11–18 | 5–13 | 12th | |||||
| 2022–23 | Penn State | 14–17 | 4–14 | T–12th | |||||
| 2023–24 | Penn State | 22–13 | 9–9 | T–6th | WBIT Semifinals | ||||
| Penn State: | 63–86 (.423) | 25–66 (.275) | |||||||
| Total: | 162–150 (.519) | ||||||||
| National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
Source:
- Penn State[12]
- B1G
References
- ^ Patrick, Evan (April 3, 2019). "Penn State set to hire Carolyn Kieger as next women's basketball coach". www.collegian.psu.edu. The Daily Collegian. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
- ^ a b Hunt, Michael (May 1, 2014). "MU hires former star to coach women's basketball". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
- ^ "Marquette hires Carolyn Kieger". espn.go.com. Associated Press. May 2, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
- ^ a b "Carolyn Kieger - Women's Basketball Coach". Penn State Athletics. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
- ^ "MU hires former star to coach women's basketball". www.jsonline.com. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
- ^ Steele, Ben. "Carolyn Kieger leaving Marquette to coach Penn State women's basketball team". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
- ^ Steppe, John. "BREAKING: Kieger leaves Marquette to take Penn State job". Marquette Wire. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
- ^ Wogenrich, Mark (2024-01-29). "Penn State Women's Basketball Drives Toward NCAA Tournament Return". Sports Illustrated Penn State Nittany Lions News, Analysis and More. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
- ^ "Penn State Lady Lions 2023-24 Postseason NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
- ^ "Lady Lions Conclude 2023-24 Season in WBIT Semifinals". Penn State Athletics. 2024-04-01. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
- ^ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
- ^ "2022-23 Women's Basketball Schedule". Penn State Athletics. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
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Current women's basketball head coaches of the Big Ten Conference
- Shauna Green (Illinois)
- Teri Moren (Indiana)
- Lisa Bluder (Iowa)
- Brenda Frese (Maryland)
- Kim Barnes Arico (Michigan)
- Robyn Fralick (Michigan State)
- Dawn Plitzuweit (Minnesota)
- Amy Williams (Nebraska)
- Joe McKeown (Northwestern)
- Kevin McGuff (Ohio State)
- Carolyn Kieger (Penn State)
- Katie Gearlds (Purdue)
- Coquese Washington (Rutgers)
- Marisa Moseley (Wisconsin)
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