Eastern Connecticut State University Women's Basketball

Bierly has won 68.8  percent of 288 regular-season games, needing two wins for 200 LEC regular-season triumphs in her career. She is 224-107 (67.7) overall in 331 LEC regular-season and tournament contests.  In 2014/15, Eastern won its fourth LEC regular-season title and third LEC post-season championship under Bierly  and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 by beating No. 12 University of Scranton on the Royals' home court and ending Baruch College's 21-game winning streak in the regional final. After losing five of its first 11 games, Eastern captured 16 of 19 en route to the Sweet 16. With her second win of the 2009/10 season, Bierly  became the fourth head coach (only current one) in Eastern intercollegiate history to record as many as 300 wins, and on the final day of the regular season in 2010/11, became the winningest head women's basketball coach in program 43-year history. In the second round of the 2012/13 Eastern Tip-Off Tournament, Bierly coached her 500th game at Eastern, which constitutes nearly half of the games played since the elevation of the program to intercollegiate status in 1971/72. In 21 seasons as a head coach all of them at Eastern -- Bierly has led the Warriors to ten post-season tournament berths, a No. 1 national ranking, and a spot in a national championship game.     Nine times in the last 15 years under Bierly, the Warriors have won at least 20 games. In 2008/09, the team won 25 games the fourth time in eight years that the team had posted at least 25 victories.That team was also ranked as high as 17th nationally, and captured a season-record 16 consecutive wins. The team's 23 regular-season triumphs prior to conference tournament play were the most in program history, and he team's 13-1 conference record also provided it with its first outright conference regular-season title (it has shared three regular-season championships) since the 1990/91 season. In the first four years of the decade under Bierly, Eastern won at least 80 percent of its games each season a feat never before accomplished in the history of the program. In 2004/05, Bierly recorded her 200th coaching win. Incredibly, it took her just four years (120 games) to win games 101 through 200. Since winning ten of 26 games in her first season (after inheriting a 3-22 club), the Lafayette, Ohio native has led Eastern to at least 17 victories 16 times, with a program-record 28 wins coming during the run to the 2003 national title game.  Bierly was named Little East Conference Coach-of-the-Year in her second season in 1995/96. Coming off a 4-8 conference record and fourth-place finish in Bierlys first season, the Warriors won ten of 12 LEC games that year, good enough for a second-place finish in the regular-season standings. They went on to win the conference tournament title later that year. Three times in all, Bierly has been selected Little East Conference Coach-of-the-Year. Seven years ago, she shared the honor after the Warriors equalled their most regular-season conference wins ever. In 2000/01, she was voted LEC Coach-of-the-Year outright when the Warriors shared first place in the regular season.  In Bierlys tenure, Eastern has featured two E-Club Hall of Famers in former assistant coach Allison Coleman (in 2013) and Jennifer Zabek (2015), six All-Americas, one national Player-of-the-Year, seven New England players of the year, two New England rookies of the year, 34 All-New England and 12 All-District performers, 12 conference players of the year, seven conference rookies of the year, and 61 all-conference selections. Forty-eight have earned an Eastern/E-Club Scholar-Athlete Award, and 31 have qualified for spots on the all-conference academic honor roll in the eight years in which the honor has been awarded. Fourteen have been awarded the Holly E. Zimmerman Memorial Award (which recognizes devotion to the team and to athletics), three have received the Bonnie J. Edmondson Senior Female SportsPerson-of-the-Year, seven have been selected Easterns Female Athlete-of-the-Year, and three have been named Easterns Female Rookie-of-the-Year. Additionally, nine players have attained the 1,000-career point mark. In 2014/15, junior Jill Ritrosky was named to the CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District 2 team, seven players were named to the LEC All-Academic Team, four earned an E-Club Outstanding Scholar-Athlete Award, two qualified for an E-Club Scholar-Athlete Award, senior Taylor McBride received the Edmondson Award and Ritrosky and junior Victoria Pfohl were among three recipients of the Zimmerman Award.  In September of 2003, Bierly was honored as the New England Collegiate Coach-of-the-Year by the New England College Basketball Hall of Fame at its annual induction dinner and awards banquet and is also a member of the Defiance (OH) College Alumni Varsity D and Allen East High School Halls of Fame. Her induction into her high school Hall of Fame came during charter induction ceremonies. In four years in high school, Bierly set program records which remain for points in a career (1,395), season (475) and game (44) Bierly holds a B.S. Degree in Sports Management from Defiance College and an M.S. Degree in Education from Bowling Green (OH) State University.