Washington University in St. Louis Women's Basketball

Lisa Stone was announced as the fourth head coach in women's basketball program history on August 22, 2024. In her first year at the helm, the Bears finished 16-9, winning several tournaments, including the McWilliams Classic. Graduate senior Jessica Brooks and sophomore Lexy Harris collected several postseason awards, starting with All-UAA honors as Harris was named to the first team and Brooks to the second team. Harris went on to earn D3hoops.com All-Region 8 first team honors and Brooks was named to the third team. Brooks then earned a WBCA All-America honorable mention while Harris picked up a D3hoops.com All-America Third Team nod. Stone came to WashU after a 10-year tenure at nearby Saint Louis University, where she was the head coach of the Billikens from 2012-22. Over her 36-year career, Stone has built up a record of 667-375, including 164-138 at SLU. Stone was also the head coach at the University of Wisconsin from 2003-11 and prior to that, served as the head coach at Drake University from 2000-03.   Stone has roots in Division III, serving as the head coach at UW-Eau Claire from 1988 to 2000. Prior to that, she was both the head basketball and head softball coach at Cornell College from 1985-88.   In Stone's first season with SLU, the Billikens allowed an average of fewer than 60 points per game (57.9) for the first time since the 1985-86 season and held 11 opponents to fewer than 50 points, setting a new program record. The following year during the 2013-14 campaign, SLU posted a 9-5 mark at home, marking its best home record in more than a decade. Additionally, the Billikens won three consecutive conference road games for the first time in program history.   During the 2014-15 season, SLU won 15 games which was the most at the time for the Billikens in 12 seasons and won the program's first game over a ranked opponent since 2002-03.   The Billikens won the A-10 regular-season title in 2015-16, for the first time in program history. That season, SLU set program records for total victories (26), conference victories (13), overall winning percentage, conference winning percentage, conference winning streak, home wins and road wins. Additionally, SLU had two first-team A-10 selections that season, giving the Billikens two first-team selections for the first time in program history. Stone went on to earn A-10 Coach of the Year as well as College Sports Madness High Major National Coach of the Year, becoming the first SLU women's basketball coach to earn any Coach of the Year honors.   Stone hit her career 600th win during the 2017-18 season and the Billikens earned their third-straight trip to the WNIT.   During the 2020-21 season, SLU had its deepest postseason run in program history, reaching the WNIT quarterfinal game. In total, Stone led the Billikens to four postseason appearances (fifth appearance was canceled due to COVID-19).   While at Wisconsin, Stone led the Badgers to five-straight postseason appearances and celebrated the most wins in a season in program history (23). In 2010, Wisconsin earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002 and the seventh time overall. Stone also earned the 2009-10 Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Badgers to a third-place finish in conference and the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament for just the second time in program history.   In her time at Drake, Stone was named the 2000-01 Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year and became the winningest first-year coach in MVC history that same year. Additionally, she led the Bulldogs to an MVC regular-season co-championship and an NCAA Tournament berth. The following season, Drake reached the NCAA Sweet 16.   While at Division III UW-Eau Claire, Stone turned around a program that had just one previous winning season. In her time there, they had 11 20-win seasons, 11 NCAA Tournament berths and won six conference titles.   During the 1996-97 season, the Blugolds were the national runner-up and the 1993-94 squad finished third nationally. Following the 1997 season, Stone was named the WBCA Division III National Coach of the Year. In 2000, she earned the D3 News/Molten Division II National Coach of the Year honors.   Stone was named the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athlete Conference Coach of the Year five times and was inducted in the UW-Eau Claire Hall of Fame in 2006. She was also part of the inaugural class of the WIAC Hall of Fame and was named the WIAC Women's Basketball All-Time Co-Coach.   In addition to her experience and accolades, she was the head coach for the 2001 WBCA All-Star game and served as an assistant coach for the gold-medal Team USA at the 2002 World Championships for Young Women Qualifying Tournament in Brazil.   Stone holds a bachelor's degree in physical education and a master's degree in athletic administration from the University of Iowa. She played four years of basketball for the legendary C. Vivian Stringer and finished her career with 1,129 points.   Stone and her husband, Ed, are the parents of Allison and Tyler. Updated July 2025

Andrew Black enters his sixth season as the Washington University in St. Louis men's and women's crew coach. Black assumed his responsibilities at WashU on July 22, 2016.In his first year at the helm, the Bears won gold in the women’s pair at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association championship and bronze in the freshmen men’s four at the American Collegiate Rowing Association national championship. WashU also garnered numerous medals at regional events and winning in all boat classes the Missouri state challenge event.Black arrived on the Danforth Campus after spending seven years as Varsity Boys’ Coach for the St. Louis Rowing Club. He enjoyed success with the SLRC Boys’ team, winning the club's first-ever junior national championship in the boys' four in 2013 and following that up with a national championship in the junior men’s pair in 2016. Black learned to row over 30 years ago in high school on the River Thames in Reading, England, and later rowed for University College London.He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from UCL in 1984, and received his PhD in philosophy from University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1992. In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Black has served as a teaching professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis since 1999.Updated August 24, 2021

Katie Hempen was announce as the program's assistant coach on June 12, 2024.   Hempen joined the Bears after a five-year stint at Division I Eastern Michigan University where she held several roles included video coordinator, graduate assistant, director of basketball operations, and most recently, assistant coach.   Prior to joining the staff as ESU, Hempen was the head coach for the Arizona Select Club Basketball Program from 2017-18, coaching the 13u and 16u Elite teams and serving as the assistant coach for the 17u Black and 17u Elite teams. Hempen was also an assistant women's basketball coach at Desert Mountain High School from 2017-18.   Hempen was a decorated basketball player herself, starting her career in 2011 at Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville (SIUE) where she was named the Ohio Valley Conference Freshmen of the Year and was a member of the Ohio Valley Conference All-Newcomer team.   Following SIUE, Hempen transferred to Arizona State University where she finished out her collegiate career from 2012-16. In her time there, Hempen broke the program record for career 3-pointers as well as single-season 3-pointers and scored 1,000 points in three seasons at ASU. During her final season, she was named first team All-PAC 12.   In 2015, Hempen was part of Team USA that won gold at the World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea.   Following graduation, Hempen went on to play professionally for the Panathlitikos Sykeon in Thessaloniki, Greece.   Hempen holds a bachelor's degree in family and human development from Arizona State University and a master's degree in sport management from Eastern Michigan. Hempen and her wife, Devin, have a daughter, Sage. Updated July 2025