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Now in her 16th year as the Sea
Gulls' head coach, Bridget Benshetler has guided the
Salisbury University women's program to its greatest
accomplishments. Under her leadership, the Gulls have
registered nine consecutive winning seasons through 2003
and earned five invitations to the NCAA Championship
Tournament. Benshetler's teams have averaged over 20 wins
per year for five seasons, including 24, 24 and
23 wins from 2000- 2003. The winningest
coach in team history, Benshetler has a career record of
243-155 entering the 2005-06 season.
Benshetler guided the Sea Gulls
to their first ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament in
1995. Salisbury returned to the NCAA Tournament for
the fifth time overall and third consecutive year in 2002
after capturing the Capital Athletic Conference
championship for the third straight season. Salisbury
also made its first "sweet 16" appearance in
2002. The Sea Gulls have registered three consecutive 13-1
records during the 2000-2003 CAC regular season
campaigns, and have advanced to the CAC Championship Game
seven times since joining the conference in 1994. In
the Lady Gulls' eleven years in the CAC, under Coach "B"
's tutelage, her teams have also been CAC runner-up
four times and a semifinalist team for three years.
Benshetler has been named the CAC
Coach of the Year three times, including back-to-back
awards in 2000 and 2001. She has also had eleven players
recognized with postseason awards in the past three
seasons, including the 2002 and 2003 Player of the Year
(Amy Campion) and three All_ Americans in two time Amy
Campion, Lisa Neylan, and Amy Cooke.
The 2003 postseason awards
continue a tradition of success for Benshetler's team.
Eleven Sea Gull players have received all-conference
recognition in the past seven seasons. More
importantly, the entire squad consistently ranks among the
top academic teams in the country. SU's cumulative team
grade point average of 3.463 in 1999 ranked as the 10th
highest among all NCAA Division III teams in the nation.
This year's squad finished up with a
3.3 overall GPA. Benshetler is a firm believer in
teaching the fundamentals of the game and constantly
stresses hard work, attitude and togetherness to her
squads. She also works in the off-season to help promote
women's basketball throughout the Eastern Shore,
committing time for clinics and camps designed
specifically for girls in the region. She is director of
the popular NIKE Girls Basketball Camp on the Salisbury
campus each summer. Adding to her list of duties, she also
directs the Girls Basketball
Camp at the Ocean City recreational Center.
Prior to taking the reins at
Salisbury in 1990, Benshetler initiated and piloted the
women's basketball program at Penn State University,
Delaware County Campus. She also served as an assistant at West
Chester University.
Benshetler is a 1986 graduate of
Hofstra (NY) University, where she was a member of the
basketball team. She later earned her M.S. in health and
physical education from West Chester University in 1990.
In addition to her duties as head coach, Benshetler also
serves as an instructor in SU's physical education
department.
6-23-03
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Coach
Benshetler's Salisbury Career - Year by
Year
|
| 1990-91 |
12-14 |
|
| 1991-92 |
9-15 |
|
| 1992-93 |
11-13 |
ESAC
Runnersup |
| 1993-94 |
7-15 |
|
| 1994-95 |
21-7 |
CAC
Runner-up; NCAA Tournament |
| 1995-96 |
19-9 |
CAC
Runner-up; NCAA Tournament 2nd Round |
| 1996-97 |
16-10 |
CAC
Semifinalists |
| 1997-98 |
14-12 |
CAC
Semifinalists |
| 1998-99 |
18-8 |
CAC
Semifinalists |
| 1999-00 |
17-12 |
CAC
Champions; NCAA Tournament 2nd Round |
| 2000-01 |
24-4 |
CAC
Champions; NCAA Tournament 2nd Round |
| 2001-02 |
24-5 |
CAC
Champions; NCAA Tournament 'Sweet
16' |
| 2002-03 |
23-5 |
CAC
Runner-up |
|
2003-2004 |
13-13 |
CAC first
round |
|
2004-05 |
15-13 |
CAC Runner-up |
| Total |
243-155 |
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