SUNY-Cobleskill Women's Basketball

As the 2024-25 season begins, Coach Megan Bowman enters her 6th season as Head Coach of the Fighting Tigers.  This follows a record-breaking 2023-24 season that marked the winningest season in program history and culminated in the Fighting Tigers' fourth straight playoff berth under Coach Bowman with the team posting an impressive 25-2 record and raised their first North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Divisional Championship banner.  Her 25 wins mark a new program season win record for SUNY Cobleskill. During the historic 2023-24 season, the Fighting Tigers led the nation in Rebound Margin (15.1 rebounds), Scoring Margin (32.2 points), and Field Goal Percentage Defense (26.4 opp. FG %).  The program proudly produced its first Second Team All-Region Player and NAC Player of the Year, Logan Thayne. Bowman accepted the Head Coach duties at Cobleskill for the start of the ‘19- ‘20 season and led the program to their first postseason tournament since 2012.  A solid 12-13 record earned the team their NEAC playoff Berth.   Throughout her tenure, the team has improved and moved forward each season.  Due to the pandemic the ‘20-’21 campaign was limited to two games, but the team showed great promise by winning both.  Upon returning to full season play in ‘21- ‘22, the team finished 13-12 once again clinching a playoff berth. Taking big strides forward, the ‘22- ‘23 team finished an impressive regular season with a 16-10 record making it to their first NAC Divisional Championship game.  On the heels of her record-setting fifth season in the ‘23- ‘24 season, Bowman has great confidence that her student-athletes are going into the ‘24-‘25 season well prepared and ready to play. With an overall college coaching record of 68-37 through four full playing seasons, she has produced 6 All-Conference players and a NAC Rookie of the Year, NAC Player of the Year, and All-Region player. Bowman came to the Fighting Tigers after compiling a three-year coaching record of 46-19 in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Section II Foothills Council where she was head coach of the Scotia-Glenville High School team from the 2016 through 2019. A native of Dannemora, N.Y., Bowman was a highly decorated three-sport athlete at Saranac High School (Basketball, Soccer and Golf).  As a four-year varsity basketball standout, she earned All-State NYSPHSAA honors in both basketball and soccer.    Upon her 2011 High School graduation, Bowman joined the Gators of The Sage Colleges women’s basketball team.  As a point guard, she earned All-Skyline Conference honors three times scoring over 1000 points, and remains the program’s all-time assist leader.  In 2013-2014 she led the Sage Gators to the Skyline Conference Championship. This was the college’s first league title and the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament Bid for Sage.  Bowman was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament for 2013-14. She was inducted into the Russell Sage Hall of Fame in 2025. During the ceremonty she was a double inductee, as she was inducted for her outstanding playing career as a Gator and she was inducted with her 2013–2014 Russell Sage women’s basketball team which was also honored as a Team of Distinction. She graduated from Sage with a bachelor’s degree in Law and Society in 2015 and is currently pursuing her Master’s Degree in Sports Management from SUNY Cortland.    

The SUNY Cobleskill Women’s Basketball program recently announced that they plan to bring back class of 2017 Alumni, Shelby Preston, as an assistant coach beginning in the 2018-2019 academic school year. Preston was a competitor for the program from 2013 through 2017 where she was a three year captain as well as the first player in program history to be named to the All-North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Team honors for four consecutive seasons. During her career, Preston scored 1399 points and grabbed 1230 rebounds to become the first player since the program moved to the NCAA level of competition to reach the career 1000 point/1000 rebound level. During her year away from Cobleskill, she was the Sports marketing and ticketing assistant at Cornell University where she was in charge of ticket sales and customer service for all of Cornell’s ticketed varsity athletic event, group sales, season ticket sales/renewals, assisting with sponsor fulfillment, game-day promotions and event management support at various athletic events. “SUNY Cobleskill became such a huge part of my life as well as who I am as a person and I am extremely excited to give back to a team, department, school and community that gave so much to me. I really love the college athletics world and cannot wait to help this team and athletic department in any way that I can,” spoke Shelby when asked about the position.