Whittier College Men's Basketball

Kristen Dowling has coached College Basketball for 19 years. She is currently the Head Coach of the Whittier College women's basketball team. This past season Dowling lead Whittier College the 2024-25 SCIAC Regular Season Championship and was named the SCIAC Coach of the Year. Prior to her arrival at Whittier, Dowling served as an assistant for one season under Head Coach Rich Murphy at the University of Redlands, her alma mater -- this, after a four-year run as the head coach of Division I Pepperdine University women's basketball. Under Dowling, the Waves produced two All-WCC selections, two WCC All-Freshman team picks, and one WCC All-Tournament team member. They also reached the semifinals of the 2020 WCC Tournament. Dowling's time at Pepperdine was a homecoming of sorts, as she had worked as a graduate assistant and academic advisor during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons, then returned as an assistant coach for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 campaigns under then-head coach Julie Rousseau. Prior to Pepperdine, the Upland, Calif.-native worked as an assistant coach at CSU Bakersfield for two seasons. The Roadrunners went 35-23 those two years and made their first-ever Division I postseason appearance in the 2010 Women's Basketball Invitational. Her CMS teams had six consecutive 20-win seasons, including five seasons with at least 23 wins. Dowling's Athenas are also notable for the 2015 season in which she and her staff were minted Coaching Staff of the Year, as they are the last SCIAC team to run the table at a perfect 16-0 in conference play. Dowling earned her Bachelor's degree from the University of Redlands in 2004 while majoring in Spanish and minoring in Physical Education. She earned her Master's degree from Pepperdine in educational technology in 2007.