MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — CollegeInsider.com announced Missouri State’s Kellie Harper as its Kay Yow Coach of the Year Award winner on Monday, which is presented annually to the Division I women’s head coach who embodies a winning spirit while displaying great character, on and off the court.
After a 1-7 start to the year, Missouri State won 24 of its next 26 games, advancing to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in school history before falling to Stanford in the NCAA Tournament’s third round. The Lady Bears defeated three straight ranked opponents to end the run, beating No. 21 Drake in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title game, 24th-ranked DePaul in the NCAA first round, and No. 13 Iowa State on its home floor in the second round.
The Lady Bears appeared in the final USA Today Coaches Poll in the 24th spot, their first national ranking in 15 years.
Missouri State, which finished with a 25-10 overall record and 16-2 MVC mark, won 13 consecutive games from Dec. 20-Feb. 8, the second-longest winning streak in the country when it ended. The Lady Bears also played a part in several additional historic win streaks, including 17 consecutive MVC wins, 13 straight Valley home wins, 11 conference road wins in a row, and 10 straight overall road wins. The final two streaks on that list are school records.
Yow, who lost a long battle with cancer in 2009, became the sixth head coach in the history of Division I women’s basketball to reach the 700-win plateau, finishing with a sterling record of 737–344 in her 34 seasons at NC State. She was the first women’s coach in ACC history to eclipse 600 wins at the same school and directed NC State to 19 top-three finishes in the ACC standings. Her 1997-98 squad advanced all the way to the Final Four in Kansas City.
She was wildly successful in every forum in which she coached, leading gold medal winners at the 1981 World University Games, the 1986 Goodwill Games, 1986 World Championship Games and the 1988 Olympic Games. As an assistant, Yow was on the Olympic gold medal winning 1984 coaching staff in Los Angeles. In addition, she was an assistant on the gold medal-winning teams at the 1979 World University Games, the 1983 Pan American Games and the 1984 R. Williams Jones Cup.
Previous Winners
2018: Sue Guevara, Central Michigan
2017: Maureen Magarity, New Hampshire
2016: Brian Boyer, Arkansas State
2015: Tricia Fabbri, Quinnipiac
2014: David Six, Hampton
2013: Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, Albany
2012: Karl Smesko, FGCU
2011: Matt Bollant, Green Bay
2010: Connie Yori, Nebraska
