William Woods University Women's Basketball

Talisha Washington begins her first year with the Owls in 2026-27 after taking the reigns in the summer of 2026.  Washington brings nearly two decades of experience in athletics administration, coaching, student-athlete development, and community engagement. She joins William Woods after serving in multiple leadership roles at NCAA DIII Westminster College, including Assistant Athletic Director for Community Outreach & Fan Engagement and Head Women's Basketball Coach.  At the helm of the Blue Jays, Washington compiled a 108-67 overall record while building one of the most successful programs in the conference. Her teams captured the 2025 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athetic Conference (SLIAC) Regular Season Championship and the 2021 SLIAC Tournament Championship, while making five postseason tournament championship runs. Washington was named SLIAC Coach of the Year in both 2021 and 2025.  Washington places a strong commitment to student-athlete development from a coaching standpoint. She successfully recruited more than 50 student-athletes to Westminster, maintained an average roster size of 22 players, raised more than $80,000 in partnership with the college's development office, and guided numerous student-athletes to All-Conference and All-Region recognition. Her teams excelled academically, earning national recognition from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association for maintaining a cumulative team Grade Point Average of 3.7.  In 2022, Washington was appointed Westminster's Assistant Athletic Director for Community Outreach & Fan Engagement, where she helped strengthen relationships between the college and the Fulton community. In this role she coordinated campus engagement initiatives, assisted with department-wide budget oversight, and supported game-day operations for 18 athletic programs. She also served on the institution's Student Persistence Team and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. 

Lance Marriott brings over 22 years of cheer and tumbling experience to The Woods, where he was named the Director of Owl Spirit on June 4, 2025. Overseeing the cheer and dance programs and helping establish a gameday environment, Marriott will guide the Owls in their first campaign in the Heart of America Athletic Conference, 2025-26.  With a focus on fundamentals, technique and team culture, Marriott is recognized throughout the Midwest as a respected voice and leader in the cheer industry, with some of his former athletes going on to compete at Rutgers, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, Arkansas, Texas and Miami (Fla.).  Marriott's coaching attributes include strong communication skills, proven success in engaging internal teams and external stakeholders, passion for athlete development, mentorship and building cohesive teams and being skilled at managing staff, budgets, events and educational programming in high-performance environments. Marriott is the founder/owner and head coach of Show Me Athletics in Osage Beach, Mo., where he has developed one of Missouri's most competitive cheer programs: 10-plus national titles and two All-Star world championships. With Show Me Athletics, Marriott manages daily operations, scheduling and staff oversight; leads athlete development, training and mentorship programs; develops and executes camps, clinics and educational opportunities and creates budgets and financial plans to support long-term growth. Before starting Show Me Athletics, Marriott worked several spirit-related jobs in Houston, Texas. From 2017-19, he was tumbling director for Prodigy All-Stars & Cypress Academy, where he directed operations for recreational and tumbling programs; launched multiple profitable camp programs; built and led staff teams through hiring and training and maintained curriculum and lesson planning for consistent athlete progress.  Throughout his time in the abovementioned role, Marriott served as director of Show-Me Xtreme Camps & Staff Training from 2016-19, designing and executing training programs for gym owners and coaches across the region. Marriott's first gig in Houston was as an All-Star coach for Prodigy All-Stars & Cypress Academy from 2013-17. He led team practices, parent communication and choreography and specialized in tumbling, stunting and routine structuring. Also in Texas, Marriott spent five years (2013-17) as the tumbling director and coach for Prodigy All-Stars in Katy. During his tenure, Marriott increased tumbling registration by 186% in under seven months; managed staffing, scheduling and athlete curriculum and taught all levels from intro to elite. Prior to his professional ventures in Texas, Marriott executed his craft not too far from his hometown of Eldon, Mo., as the gym director and head coach for Capitol City Cheer in Jefferson City from 2008-13. For Capitol City, Marriott managed day-to-day operations, recruiting and staffing; created routines, coached teams across all divisions and developed and led regional camps and clinics. Marriott also has management experience with the U.S. All-Star Federation (USASF), one of the four main governing bodies for All-Star cheerleading and dance, from 2010-16. Possessing USASF certified levels 1-5 certification, Marriott administered credentialing for coaches and gym staff; supported regional setups and closures and represented USASF needs at state and regional levels. Marriott began his cheer/tumbling leadership path on the coaching staff at KC Cheer in Lenexa, Kan. From 2004-08, he coached levels 1-5 in tumbling, stunting and performances and led private lessons and choreography across school and All-Star divisions. Through the first 21 years of his cheer/tumbling management career, Marriott earned a plethora of awards: Cheersport Atlanta national champion (2014, Prodigy All-Stars), multiple cheerleading world bids (2009-11, Capitol City Cheer), Cheersport nationals champion (2008 - Small Senior Level 3, KC Cheer), three-time JAMfest supranational champion (2006-08) and NCA National Champion (2006 - Large Junior Coed Level 3, KC Cheer). Both of Marriott's parents formerly taught at William Woods, and he's the son of a cheer and football coach at Eldon High School and the brother of a 1988 Olympic-hopeful gymnast. Marriott is a cancer survivor (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia - 1990).