Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Coach of the Year

Brenda Reilly NEC Women's Basketball Coach of the Year
Brenda Reilly NEC Women's Basketball Coach of the Year
Awarded for	the most outstanding women's basketball head coach in the Northeast Conference
Country	United States
First award	1986–87
Currently held by	Stephanie Gaitley, Fairleigh Dickinson

Awarded forthe most outstanding women's basketball head coach in the Northeast Conference

CountryUnited States

First award1986–87

Currently held byStephanie Gaitley, Fairleigh Dickinson

The Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Coach of the Year is a basketball award given to head coaches in the Northeast Conference (NEC). The award is granted to the head coach voted as the most successful coach of the season by the league's coaches. The award is named in honor of Brenda Reilly, a teacher, sports administrator and three-sport coach in a career of almost three decades at Central Connecticut State University.^[1]

The award was first presented following the 1986–87 season, marking the inaugural year of NEC-sponsored women's basketball. Kevin Jones of St. Francis Brooklyn was the inaugural recipient.^[2] The program with the most awards is Robert Morris, whose father-son duo of Sal and Charlie Buscaglia have garnered all of the Colonials' seven awards, but Robert Morris left the NEC for the Horizon League after the 2019–20 season. Among current NEC members, Saint Francis has the most awards with five. Sacred Heart, also with five awards, left after the 2023–24 season for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

[1]

[2]

Season	Coach	School	Conference Record	Conference Standing	Overall Record	Postseason	Source(s)
1986–87	Kevin Jones	St. Francis (NY)	9–7	5th	14–15		^[2]
1987–88	Mickey McGlade	Monmouth					^[2]
1988–89	Gela Mikalauskas	Wagner					^[2]
1989–90	Bill Sheahan	Mount St. Mary's					^[2]
1990–91	Susan DeKalb	Monmouth					^[2]
1991–92	Bill Sheahan (2)	Mount St. Mary's					^[2]
1992–93	Sharon Beverly	Fairleigh Dickinson	14–4	T–1st	15–12		^[2]
1993–94	Bill Sheahan (3)	Mount St. Mary's					^[2]
1994–95	Jenny Przekwas	Saint Francis (PA)					^[2]
1995–96	Bill Sheahan (4)	Mount St. Mary's					^[2]
1996–97	Jenny Przekwas (2)	Saint Francis (PA)					^[2]
1997–98	Irma Garcia	St. Francis (NY)		5th	11–16		^[2]
1998–99	Vanessa Blair	Mount St. Mary's					^[2]
1999–2000	Patty Delehanty	LIU Brooklyn					^[2]
2000–01	Tricia Sacca-Fabbri	Quinnipiac	12–6		16–13		^[2]
2001–02	Myndi Hill	Saint Francis (PA)					^[2]
2002–03	Myndi Hill (2)	Saint Francis (PA)					^[2]
2003–04	Ed Swanson	Sacred Heart					^[2]
2004–05	Sal Buscaglia	Robert Morris					^[2]
2005–06	Tricia Fabbri (2)	Quinnipiac	15–3		22–8		^[2]
2006–07	Stephanie Gaitley	LIU Brooklyn					^[2]
2007–08	Ed Swanson (2)	Sacred Heart					^[2]
2008–09	Ed Swanson (3)	Sacred Heart			22–4		^[2]
2009–10	Sal Buscaglia (2)	Robert Morris					^[2]
2010–11	Susan Robinson Fruchtl	Saint Francis (PA)					^[2]
2011–12	Ed Swanson (4)	Sacred Heart	15–3	1st	25–8	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[3]
2012–13	Tricia Fabbri (3)	Quinnipiac	18–0	1st	30–3	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[4]
2013–14	Sal Buscaglia (3)	Robert Morris	14–4	1st	21–12	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[5]
2014–15	Beryl Piper	Central Connecticut	14–4	T–1st	19–12	NEC Semifinals	^[6]
2015–16	Jessica Mannetti	Sacred Heart	16–2	1st	20–13	NEC Finals WNIT first round	^[7]
2016–17	Charlie Buscaglia	Robert Morris	14–4	1st	21–10	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[8]
2017–18	Charlie Buscaglia (2)	Robert Morris	16–2	1st	25–8	NEC Finals WNIT first round
2018–19	Charlie Buscaglia (3)	Robert Morris	16–2	1st	22–10	NEC Champions NCAA first round
2019–20	Charlie Buscaglia (4)	Robert Morris	17–1	1st	23–7	NEC Champions	^[9]
2020–21	Maria Marchesano	Mount St. Mary's	14–4	1st	17–6	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[10]
2021–22	Angelika Szumilo	Fairleigh Dickinson	15–3	1st	19–12	NEC Semifinals WNIT first round	^[11]
2022–23	Angelika Szumilo (2)	Fairleigh Dickinson	14–2	1st	24–8	NEC Finals WNIT first round	^[12]
2023–24	Mary Grimes	Le Moyne	14–2	2nd	18–12	NEC Finals WNIT first round	^[13]
2024–25	Stephanie Gaitley	Fairleigh Dickinson	16–0	1st	29–4	NEC Champions NCAA first round
2025–26	Stephanie Gaitley (2)	Fairleigh Dickinson	18–0	1st	TBD	TBD	^[14]

School	Winners	Years
Robert Morris^[a]	7	2005, 2010, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Mount St. Mary's^[b]	6	1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2021
Saint Francis (PA)	5	1995, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2011
Sacred Heart^[c]	5	2004, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2016
Fairleigh Dickinson	5	1993, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026
Quinnipiac^[d]	3	2001, 2006, 2013
St. Francis Brooklyn^[e]	2	1987, 1998
LIU^[f]	2	2000, 2007
Monmouth^[d]	2	1988, 1991
Central Connecticut	1	2015
Le Moyne	1	2024
Wagner	1	1989
Bryant^[g]	0	—
Chicago State	0	—
Mercyhurst	0	—
Merrimack^[c]	0	—

v t e Northeast Conference women's basketball
Current teams	Central Connecticut Blue Devils Chicago State Cougars Fairleigh Dickinson Knights Le Moyne Dolphins LIU Sharks Mercyhurst Lakers New Haven Chargers Saint Francis Red Flash (leaving in 2026) Stonehill Skyhawks Wagner Seahawks
Championships & awards	Regular season champions Conference tournament Coach of the Year Player of the Year "Battle of Brooklyn"
Seasons	1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Coach of the Year

Winners by school

References

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