Denison University Women's Basketball

Lee have been the most successful stretch in the history of the Denison women's basketball program.  Since 2003-04, the Big Red have won 263 games and have averaged 20 wins per season. Lee and the Big Red are coming off a North Coast Athletic Conference Championship in 2015-16.  The team finished with a 23-5 record, advancing to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the sixth time in program history.  Junior Jordan Holmes was named to the WBCA and D3Hoops.com All-American team after leading the nation in blocked shots for the third-straight season.  Holmes averaged 15.9 points per game and 17.8 rebounds per game, which was the second-best per game average in Division III. Lee boasts a career record of 428-281 (.604) in 27 seasons at Denison.  Entering the 2015-16 season she ranked 29th in victories among active Division III coaches.  She is one of just 50 coaches in Division III history to reach the 400-win milestone.  Under Lee, Denison has won four NCAC championships and seven NCAC Tournament titles.  In 2010-11, the Big Red completed the conference's first undefeated regular season at 25-0 and went on to captured the NCAC Tournament title for the sixth time in seven years.  Led by NCAC Player of the Year, Shaina Kaiser, Denison finished the year 28-0, marking the best season in program history. In 2010-11, the Big Red completed the conference's first undefeated regular season (25-0) and went on to capture the 2011 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament for the sixth time out of the last seven seasons.  Led by All-American and NCAC Player of the Year, Shaina Kaiser, Denison finished the year 28-0. She is a five-time NCAC Coach of the Year, winning the award in 1990-91, 1997-98, 2006-07, 2010-11 and 2015-16. In addition to her basketball coaching duties, Lee spent 18 seasons as the head volleyball coach at Denison. She stepped down prior to the 2007 season after recording 395 career victories. She is the program's all-time leader in wins and holds a .618 career winning percentage as the head volleyball coach. The team's 31 victories in 1993 set a new school record that still stands. In 1989, Lee came to Denison from Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio, where she was the head coach of women's volleyball, women's basketball and softball. While at Lake Erie, she also served as the coordinator of women's athletics, an instructor of physical education, a residence hall director and an academic advisor. A native of Moorhead, Minn., Lee enrolled at Minnesota State Moorhead after graduating from high school in 1982. She earned her B.S. in physical education from Minnesota State Moorhead in 1986. Lee went on to earn an M.A. in athletic administration from Kent State in 1987. While at Minnesota State Moorhead, Lee's athletic career was highlighted by several outstanding accomplishments. She was a four-year letter winner in each of three sports: volleyball, women's basketball and softball. In volleyball, Lee earned all-conference and all-district recognition her junior and senior years and was twice named as her team's most valuable player. Her senior year, Lee served as a basketball captain and she was an all-district selection in softball. In 1995, Lee was inducted into the Minnesota State Moorhead Athletic Hall of Fame for her distinguished accomplishments and career both on and off the playing field. Lee's honors as an undergraduate include the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Scholarship which is awarded annually by NAIA athletic directors. Lee was also honored as the recipient of the Minnesota State Moorhead Student-Athlete Award her senior year. At Kent State, Lee was selected for a graduate assistantship in physical education. In addition to her coaching and administrative duties, Lee holds the title of Professor at Denison University.

Maureen Hirt begins her fourth season as Head Coach of the Denison University women's basketball program in 2025-26. Following a 20-win season, Hirt was a finalist for the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association NCAA Division III Coach of the Year award in 2023-24. Hirt was recognized as the D3hoops.com Region 7 Coach of the Year and the Big Red staff was honored as North Coast Athletic Conference Coaching Staff of the Year after helping Denison double its win total from the season prior. The 20 wins marked the most for the Big Red since the 2015-16 season.  In 14 conference games, the Big Red were the most efficient behind the arc in NCAC play, shooting .340 (87-of-256) and ranked in the top-four in scoring (66.1 ppg), field-goal percentage (.420; 349-of-831), and assists (14.43 apg). The Denison defense also ranked in the top-four against conference foes in five defensive categories, producing a league-high 68 blocked shots (4.86 bpg), ranking second in opponent field-goal percentage (.346), defensive rebounds (27.2 rpg) and steals (9.29 spg) and fourth in opponent scoring (55.5 ppg). First-year guard Abby Cooch was named the 2023-24 NCAC Newcomer of the Year. In addition, Cooch was named First-Team All-NCAC while fellow-freshman guard Ada Taute was named to the All-NCAC Third Team. In its first year under the guidance of Coach Hirt in 2022-23, Denison women's basketball finished the season 10-16 overall and 5-9 in the North Coast Athletic Conference while earning the No. 5 seed for the conference tournament. Senior post player Mikaila Carpenter was named Second-Team All-NCAC after leading the Big Red with 12.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, all while shooting 52.3 percent (137-262) from the field. Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics Nan Carney-DeBord announced Hirt as the eighth Head Women’s Basketball Coach in Denison WBB history on June 15, 2022. Hirt replaced Sara Lee, who stepped down in April after a 33-year tenure leading the Big Red. Hirt came to Denison after spending the previous season as the Associate Head Coach at Oberlin College, her third year on staff as an assistant for the Yeowomen. At Oberlin, Hirt helped lead the Yeowomen to one of the most successful seasons in program history in 2021-22 as the squad finished 21-4 overall and 13-3 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, tying the program record for overall wins and conference wins in a season. The Yeowomen got off to the best start in program history at 8-0, went undefeated in non-conference play at 7-0, and qualified as the No. 2 seed for the NCAC Tournament, the highest seed in program history. The team shot a conference-best 43.4 percent from the field and ranked 18th in the nation in assists per game at 17.4. Hirt helped coach three all-conference players in 2021-22, including the NCAC Newcomer of the Year in Camille Zinaich. During her second year at Oberlin, Hirt was one of 10 Tara VanDerveer fellows across the country to be a part of the 2020 cohort for the Women’s Sports Foundation’s advancement of women in coaching. Hirt was also a Co-Advisor for the Oberlin Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), working with Oberlin’s SAAC officers to help guide and coordinate events both on and off campus such as Play Like A Girl, Black History Month SAAC Celebration, D-III Week, and more. Hirt is the Co-Founder and Owner of Ohio Champion Basketball (OCB), a basketball skills and performance training company in Cincinnati, Ohio. Since November of 2015, OCB has trained athletes from the middle school to professional level. Hirt began her coaching career as the Guardian Angels eighth grade boys’ head basketball coach, a position she held for four seasons from October 2014-February 2018. Hirt graduated cum laude from Kenyon College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and economics in May 2014. She was a four-year member and two-time team captain of the women’s basketball team where she helped Kenyon advance to four North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) tournaments. The 2014 North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Hirt was a four-time All-NCAC player and three-time first-team all-conference selection, and is still the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,819 career points. After her senior season, she was recognized as a D3 Women’s News Third-Team All-American and first-team all-region performer, along with being a third-team all-region selection in 2012. As a junior in 2013, Hirt led all of Division III in free-throw percentage at 92.3%. Hirt was named the 2014 Kenyon Female Athlete of the Year and was Kenyon’s 2014 Pam Smith Award nominee, which also serves as a nomination for the NCAA Woman of the Year award. Hirt received the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and earned her master’s degree in marketing from the University of Cincinnati Carl H. Linder School of Business in June 2018.   Hirt at Denison Year Season at DU Overall Record Conference Finish/Accolades 2022-23 1st 10-16 5th NCAC 2023-24 2nd 20-7 4th NCAC WBCA NCAA Division III Coach of the Year Finalist D3hoops.com Region 7 Coach of the Year NCAC Coaching Staff of the Year 2024-25   3rd    15-11   3rd NCAC Overall 45-34 (.569 pct.)  

Olivia Woolam enters her third season as a member of the Big Red women’s basketball staff in the 2025-26 season. In the 2024-25 season, the Big Red would finish their season 15-11 overall with an 8-6 mark in conference play, and advanced to the NCAC Tournament Quarterfinal. The season was highlighted by a championship win at the first annual Sara Lee Classic. The team shot 42.2% from the field, 31.8% from three, and ranked in the top three in the conference in free-throw percentage (72.4%) and rebounds per game (37.5). Abby Cooch and Abigail Westmeyer were named All-NCAC, as Cooch racked up her second consecutive first-team honor, and Westmeyer was named third-team all-conference. Woolam was part of the Big Red staff that was honored as North Coast Athletic Conference Coaching Staff of the Year in 2023-24. Woolam aided the staff which doubled its win total from a season prior. The 20 wins marked the most for the Big Red a single season since the 2015-16 season. First-year guard Abby Cooch was named the 2023-24 NCAC Newcomer of the Year. In addition, Cooch was named First-Team All-NCAC while fellow-freshman guard Ada Taute was named to the All-NCAC Third Team. In NCAC play, the Big Red were the most efficient behind the arc, shooting .340 (87-of-256) and ranked in the top-four in scoring (66.1 ppg), field-goal percentage (.420; 349-of-831), and assists (14.43 apg). The Denison defense also ranked in the top-four against conference foes in five defensive categories, producing a league-high 68 blocked shots (4.86 bpg), ranking second in opponent field-goal percentage (.346), defensive rebounds (27.2 rpg) and steals (9.29 spg) and fourth in opponent scoring (55.5 ppg). The Big Red earned a 54-48 win over NCAC champion DePauw on Jan. 17.  Woolam joined Denison University after two seasons as the graduate assistant at The College of New Jersey. During her time at TCNJ, the Lions posted a 31-23 record, with appearances in the New Jersey Athletic Conference semifinals both years and a showing in the conference championship in the 2021-2022 season. As the graduate assistant, Woolam was involved in all aspects of the program, including recruiting, scouting, player development, and administrative support.   Prior to TCNJ, Woolam was a four-year member of the women’s basketball program at Grinnell College from 2017-2021. In her senior year, Woolam served as a captain for the Pioneers during the COVID-19 season. She was also the recipient of the Honor G Coaches Award in her senior year in recognition of her contributions to the culture of the Grinnell College Athletic Department.   During the 2020 WNBA season, Woolam served as an intern on the Chicago Sky creative services team. As an intern, Woolam was tasked with social media content creation as well as the construction of a “Family Fun” section of the Sky’s website to increase fan engagement during the COVID-19 season.   A native of Fort Myers, Florida, Woolam graduated from Grinnell in May 2021 with her Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and English, and earned with her Masters of Arts in English from TCNJ in May 2023.