Last season Colleen Ames was the interim head women's basketball coach at Clarkson in Upstate New York. Next season she'll be the permanent head women's basketball coach a little farther south after Mount St. Mary named her to that post.
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Mount St. Mary Director of Athletics Jessica Mushel announced the hire on Tuesday.
"[Ames] brings a new sense of energy and passion to our women's basketball program that will allow her to build upon the successes of the program," said Mushel in the release. "Colleen has a tremendous ceiling and I cannot wait to see where she takes our women's basketball program."
Ames, who had been the assistant to Maureen Webster at Clarkson for one season, stepped into the head coaching job on an interim basis last season. The Golden Knights went 7-18, 4-7 in the Liberty League. Ames also spent one season as an assistant to Jamie Seward at SUNY New Paltz in 2016-17. Ames played two seasons at SUNY New Paltz, where she earned her bachelor's degree in 2017, and two seasons at Division II St. Thomas Aquinas College.
Ames replaces Michael Coppolino who became the head coach at national power George Fox in April. The Knights also lost assistant coach Quntashea Lewis who returned to Salem College to lead her alma mater's women's basketball team.
Mount St. Mary went 23-6, 18-0 in the Skyline Conference last season and reached the NCAA Tournament second round.