BOSTON, Mass. – Emmanuel College Women's Basketball Coach Andy Yosinoff captured his 700th career victory on Saturday afternoon, when he led the Saints to a 76-49 win over Lasell College. A supportive crowd of several hundred packed Emmanuel's Jean Yawkey Center to cheer on the Saints, as the 36th-year head coach hit this incredible milestone. The 14-5 Saints remain unbeaten in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action at 6-0. The conference loss drops Lasell to 8-10 on the season and 3-4 in the league.
Yosinoff is now in elite company as just the third NCAA Division III women's basketball coach to hit 700 wins, behind Scranton University's Mike Strong (782 wins) and former St. John Fisher coach Phil Kahler (757 wins). Yosinoff is the first Division III coach from a New England college or university to accomplish this feat. He joins Division I UCONN's Geno Auriemma and Division II Bentley's Barbara Stevens in a trio of New England women's coaches with 700 or more wins.
Yosinoff has compiled a list of impressive credentials, including a career record of 700-230. He has coached all 700 victories while at Emmanuel. His 36 years with the Saints ranks Yosinoff 3rd all-time in seasons coached with one team, trailing two other coaching legends in Elizabethtown's Yvonne Kauffman (42 years) and Tennessee's Pat Summitt (38 years).
"It has been a tremendous experience working alongside Andy for all these years," commented Assistant Coach Arthur Howell, who has been coaching with Yosinoff on the Emmanuel sidelines for 23 seasons. "I'm very happy for him. Andy has a passion for winning, but it goes beyond just winning for him. It's about the players and Andy is truly committed to the Emmanuel student-athletes. He is a great guy and a great friend. I have enjoyed being a part of so many winning seasons."
Coach Yosinoff currently has the Saints on a remarkable 35-game GNAC regular season win streak, which dates back to the 2009-10 season. Under Yosinoff, Emmanuel once owned the longest win streak in Division III history at 72 games, a record that spanned the 2000-2006 seasons. Yosinoff has led the Saints to 14 GNAC Championships and to 17 NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the Final Four in 2001, to the Elite Eight in 2012 and to the Sweet Sixteen in 2008.
Yosinoff's list of individual honors is lengthy. In 2008, he was honored for his contribution to women's athletics with a "Heights Award," presented by the Massachusetts State Lottery and Boston College Athletics. He is 2003 inductee of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. After the Saints' appearance in the national quarterfinals last season, Yosinoff received the 2012 Red Auerbach Award for the Jewish Coach of the Year. Next month, on February 8th, Yosinoff will be honored by his alma mater, as the University of Rhode Island inducts him into their Athletic Hall of Fame. Yosinoff's résumé also includes serving as the USA Maccabiah Open women's basketball coach, where he guided Team USA to its first-ever gold medal during the 2005 Maccabiah Games in Israel.
In this afternoon's win, the two clubs played evenly throughout the first half, exchanging the lead several times before the break. The Saints heated up late in the half and took a ten-point advantage into the locker room at halftime (35-25). Emmanuel carried its late first-half momentum into the second frame and pulled out in front by as many as 28 points, before coming away with the 76-49 win.
Emmanuel was paced by the lights-out shooting of junior guard Bria Tiro (Saugus, Mass.), who netted 16 points, draining five three-pointers in just 15 minutes of action. Senior forward Fiona O'Dwyer (Stamford, Conn.) recorded a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Saints.
Lasell got solid numbers from sophomore guard Alexis Chappell (Springfield, Mass.), who scored a team-high 12 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in the effort.
Coach Yosinoff and the Saints will return to action next Wednesday, when they travel to Northfield, Vermont to take on the Cadets of Norwich University in a 7:00 PM start.