Carolyn Kieger

Carolyn Kieger
Kieger in 2024
Biographical details
Born (1983-08-17) August 17, 1983
Roseville, Minnesota, U.S.
Playing career
2002–2006Marquette
PositionPoint guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2008–2014Miami (FL) (assistant)
2014–2019Marquette
2019–2026Penn State
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
2007–2008Marquette (dir. of ops.)
Head coaching record
Overall183–187 (.495)
Tournaments2–3 (NCAA Division I)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
As a coach

As a player

  • CUSA All-Freshman Team (2003)
Awards
Big East Co-Coach of the Year (2018)

Carolyn Kieger (born August 17, 1983) is a women's college basketball coach. She served as head coach for her alma mater, Marquette, from 2014 to 2019[1] and at Penn State from 2019 to 2026.[2]

Playing career

Kieger was born in Roseville, Minnesota. She attended college at Marquette University, where she was a four-year starter for the Golden Eagles, a three-year captain, and the all-time assists leader. Kieger is the only player in program history with at least 1,200 career points, 400 career rebounds and 600 assists. On her career, she averaged 10.3 points per game. She was a second team All-Big East Conference selection for the 2005–06 season and a second team All-Conference USA selection for the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons. During her senior year, she was a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award. In 2006, she graduated cum laude from Marquette with a bachelor's degree in broadcasting and electronic communications.[3]

Coaching career

Kieger spent six seasons as an assistant coach for the women's basketball team at the University of Miami under head coach Katie Meier. She primarily focused on developing players at the guard position. During her time at Miami, the Hurricanes made three appearances in the NCAA Tournament and two appearances in the WNIT, including a trip to the final.[4]

Kieger was hired as the head coach of the Marquette women's basketball team on May 1, 2014, succeeding the program's all-time winningest head coach Terri Mitchell.[5] In five seasons at the helm of her alma mater, Kieger went 99–64 and appeared in three NCAA tournaments. In the 2018–19 season, Kieger's team notched a program record 27 wins, winning the 2019 Big East regular season title and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.[6] Kieger coached Marquette's first Big East Players of the Year in consecutive seasons: Allazia Blockton in 2017–18 and Natisha Hiedeman in 2018–19.[4]

On April 3, 2019, Kieger left her alma mater to become the head coach of the Penn State Lady Lions. Kieger expressed her desire to compete for national titles as the primary reason for her move to Penn State.[7]

Kieger struggled after the move to Penn State, finishing in the bottom fourth of the Big Ten each year from 2019 to 2023. In 2024, the Lady Lions got off to a torrid pace, beginning the season 16–5 and fueling speculation that the team would make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014.[8][9] However, a six game losing streak dashed the team's tournament hopes and they would fall to Villanova in the WBIT semifinal.[10]

Kieger was fired by Penn State on March 5, 2026. She finished her career at Penn State with an 84–123 overall and 30–97 in the Big Ten. She was the first coach in the history of the program to finish with an overall losing record. She was also the only coach to never had a team qualify for the NCAA Tournament.[11]

Player stats

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2002–03 Marquette 30 338 46.7% 42.6% 87.5% 4.7 4.2 1.5 – 11.3
2003–04 Marquette 32 336 37.1% 29.7% 74.5% 3.6 5.9 2.0 – 10.5
2004–05 Marquette 30 355 41.7% 26.6% 81.8% 3.7 6.2 1.7 0.0 11.8
2005–06 Marquette 32 248 40.3% 27.8% 77.6% 3.7 6.1 1.1 – 7.8
Career 124 1277 41.2% 31.0% 80.5% 3.9 5.6 1.6 0.0 10.3

Source: NCAA[12]

Head coaching record

Record table
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Marquette Golden Eagles (Big East Conference) (2014–2019)
2014–15 Marquette 9–224–148th
2015–16 Marquette 14–169–95th
2016–17 Marquette 25–813–53rdNCAA Division I First round
2017–18 Marquette 24–1015–3T–1stNCAA Division I Second Round
2018–19 Marquette 27–815–31stNCAA Division I Second Round
Marquette: 99–64 (.607)56–34 (.622)
Penn State Lady Lions (Big Ten Conference) (2019–2026)
2019–20 Penn State 7–231–1714th
2020–21 Penn State 9–156–1311th
2021–22 Penn State 11–185–1312th
2022–23 Penn State 14–174–14T–12th
2023–24 Penn State 22–139–9T–6thWBIT Semifinals
2024–25 Penn State 10–191–1718th
2025–26 Penn State 11–184–1416th
Penn State: 84–123 (.406)30–97 (.236)
Total:183–187 (.495)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Source:

References

  1. ↑ "Marquette hires Carolyn Kieger". ESPN. Associated Press. May 2, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  2. ↑ Patrick, Evan (April 3, 2019). "Penn State set to hire Carolyn Kieger as next women's basketball coach". www.collegian.psu.edu. The Daily Collegian. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  3. ↑ Hunt, Michael (May 1, 2014). "MU hires former star to coach women's basketball". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Carolyn Kieger - Women's Basketball Coach". Penn State Athletics. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  5. ↑ "MU hires former star to coach women's basketball". www.jsonline.com. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  6. ↑ Steele, Ben. "Carolyn Kieger leaving Marquette to coach Penn State women's basketball team". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  7. ↑ Steppe, John. "BREAKING: Kieger leaves Marquette to take Penn State job". Marquette Wire. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  8. ↑ Wogenrich, Mark (January 29, 2024). "Penn State Women's Basketball Drives Toward NCAA Tournament Return". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Penn State Lady Lions 2023-24 Postseason NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Lady Lions Conclude 2023-24 Season in WBIT Semifinals". Penn State Athletics. April 1, 2024. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Penn State women's basketball coach Carolyn Kieger is fired". 247sports.com. March 5, 2026. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
  12. ↑ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  13. ↑ "2022-23 Women's Basketball Schedule". Penn State Athletics. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
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