SUNY - Cortland Women's Basketball

Colleen Ames enters her third season as Cortland's women's basketball head coach in 2025-26. In two seasons at the helm, Ames has guided Cortland to a 43-12 record (.782), along with one conference championship and one NCAA Div. III playoff berth. Ames also surpassed 100 career head coaching victories in a win at Oneonta in 2024-25. Ames coached Cortland to a 25-4 record in the 2024-25 season, and winning the SUNYAC regular-season title with a 17-1 record in conference play. The Red Dragons defeated Canton, 67-54 in the semifinals, and New Paltz, 68-49 in the finals, to clinch their ninth overall SUNYAC title. Cortland earned a 48-46 victory over Endicott in the first round of the NCAA Div. III playoffs, before falling to Bowdoin in the second round and finishing tied for 17th nationally. Ames and her staff were also selected as the SUNYAC Coaching Staff of the Year. In her first season with the Red Dragons in 2023-24, she led the team to an 18-8 record and the SUNYAC tournament semifinals. Ames came to Cortland from Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, N.Y., where she guided the Knights to a combined record of 63-16 (.797), including a 52-6 mark (.897) during Skyline Conference regular-season games, from 2019-23. The Skyline Conference Coach of the Year during the 2021-22 season, Ames guided her squad that season to a 24-4 record, the conference tournament and regular-season titles, and the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs after a first-round win at Johns Hopkins. She also led the Knights to a 20-6 record and the Skyline regular-season title during the 2019-20 season and a 19-6 record in 2022-23 (the 2020-21 season was canceled).    Prior to her time at Mount Saint Mary, Ames served as interim head coach at Clarkson University during the 2018-19 season and as an assistant coach in 2017-18. She also was a volunteer assistant coach at SUNY New Paltz in 2016-17, helping the Hawks post a 20-9 record, win the SUNYAC title and advance to the NCAA Division III "sweet 16" with wins over Bowdoin and Ithaca. In addition, Ames served as an assistant coach for the Long Island Lightning AAU organization for five years prior to her collegiate coaching experience.    Ames is a 2017 graduate of New Paltz, where she earned a bachelor's degree in sociology, and she earned a master's degree in business administration from Clarkson. Ames played two seasons at New Paltz from 2014-16, finishing with totals of 407 points, 82 made 3-pointers, 177 rebounds, 45 assists and 45 steals. As a senior during the 2015-16 season she played in 28 games, 20 as a starter, and helped the Hawks win the SUNYAC title. Prior to New Paltz, Ames played two seasons at Division II St. Thomas Aquinas College.    A native of Lindenhurst, N.Y., Ames is a 2012 alumna of Lindenhurst High School. She competed in basketball and volleyball for the Bulldogs and earned basketball all-state honors during her senior season. updated 6/3/2025

Madison Shea enters her second season as the lead assistant for the Cortland women's basketball team in 2025-26. In her first season on the staff, Cortland won the SUNYAC regular-season and tournament titles and finished tied for 17th nationally in the NCAA Div. III playoffs. Cortland was also honored as the SUNYAC Coaching Staff of the Year.  Shea joined Cortland after most recently serving as an assistant coach at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institure from 2023 to 2024. She also played professionally in Israeli from 2019 to 2023, where her team claimed league and cup titles in 2021. Shea was a key starter as a guard at Clarkson University from 2014-18, finishing her career tied for the most games played at 106, and graduating as the 10th-leading scorer with 953 points. Shea also ranked in the top 15 in a number of other key career categories: fifth in assists (344), 12th in free throws made (210), 13th in field goals (353) and 3-pointers made (49), and 15th in rebounding (510). She holds the single-game record for most free throws with 20, and is tied for the record with 24 consecutive free throws made. Shea also helped Clarkson claim the Liberty League title in 2015-16. The Clifton Park, NY native also earned second team CoSIDA Academic All-American honors in 2017-18, was a three-time first team CoSIDA Academic All-District 3 and Liberty League All-Academic team honoree from 2015-18, and a four-year honor roll selection. After graduating from Clarkson in 2018 with a degree in Engineering and Management, Shea continued her academic and athletic career at Bournemouth University, helping her team claim the league title in 2019, while earning a master's degree in Sport Management.  Shea was a three-sport athlete in basketball, soccer, and lacrosse at Shenendehowa High School, helping guide the basketball team to a Section II title in 2014.  Shea is a Mike Boyle Certified Functional Strength Coach (CFSC) Levels 1 and 2.   

Chad Dunham joined the Cortland coaching staff in the fall of 2022. He's an assistant with the cross country teams, conducts practices for the track and field distance runners, and provides academic monitoring and assistance for the cross country and track and field student-athletes. He also oversees recruiting responsibilities for the cross country and track and field programs. A Central Square native, Dunham graduated summa cum laude from Cortland in 2020 with a bachelor's degree in history and earned a master's degree in educational leadership from St. Lawrence University in 2022. He served as an assistant coach at St. Lawrence for two years, helping develop national qualifiers in cross country, the 800 meters, and the 3,000-meter steeplechase.   Dunham ran for Cortland during the 2019-20 school year. He finished fifth in the White Division of the Lehigh Paul Short Run, 34th at the SUNYAC Cross Country Championships and 67th at the NCAA Atlantic Regionals. Prior to Cortland, Dunham competed at SUNY Oneonta, where he was part of the team’s 2016 NCAA qualifying cross country squad.   Dunham graduated from Paul V. Moore High School in 2015. He competed in cross country and track and field, and he was a National Honor Society student.