Bronx, N.Y. – Fordham women's basketball head coach
Stephanie Gaitley has been elected by her peers to serve another term as the Region 1 representative on the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division I All-America and Wade Trophy selection committee.
"I'm very excited to be elected to a second term with the DI All-America and Wade Trophy committee," Gaitley said, "I want to thank the coaches in my district for supporting me in this position. Women's basketball is growing in popularity and the players get better every year. It is an honor to be part of this prestigious committee of choosing the top players in all of Division I."
Gaitley has been on the All-American committee four previous times, including the last four years. Prior to that, the Ocean City, N.J. native was a committee member while at Saint Joseph's from 1993 until 2001, serving as the committee's chairperson from 1998 to 2001. She's also been a conference captain twice.
During Gaitley's 10 years in charge of the Fordham women's basketball program, she has won two Atlantic 10 championships and earned seven postseason berths, a number that would've been eight had the 2019-20 season not been cut short. She became the program's winningest head coach in just six seasons, doing so in 2017, and crossed the 200-win mark in the Spring, and carries 666 career victories over 35 years. A three-time Metropolitan Coach of the Year and four-time Fordham Iron Major award winner, Gaitley is 31
st all-time among Division I coaches in career wins and 14
th among active coaches.
Fordham is coming of a stop-and-start, shortened 20-21 campaign that saw the Rams finish with a 12-6 overall record and 8-2 mark in Atlantic 10 action. They earned the #2 seed and a double bye in the A-10 Championship and ultimately reached their fifth WNIT appearance of the decade. The Rams return four of five starters, including reigning Co-Player of the Year
Anna DeWolfe, plus fellow All-Conference selections
Kendell Heremaia and
Kaitlyn Downey, the first time in the A-10 era that the program has had three All-Conference honorees, and return 91% of last year's scoring. Six new faces have arrived in the Bronx, as well, led by senior transfer
Asiah Dingle, a Second Team All-America East selection last year with Stony Brook.
The Rams kick off the 2021-22 campaign at home against Quinnipiac on Tuesday, November 9, at 6 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the Men's team. That game will be streamed on ESPN+.
