UW-La Crosse women’s basketball head coach Karen Middleton is heading to Duke to be an assistant coach, the Division I program announced Friday.
Middleton guided the Eagles to a 111-58 record after taking over in 2016, and UW-L had winning seasons in all but the COVID-19 altered 2020-21 season during her tenure. The Eagles were 22-5 in 2018-19 and followed with a 19-8 in 2019-20, which earned them an at-large bid in the NCAA Division III national tournament.
UW-L finished 19-7 this season, including an 8-6 record in WIAC play. The Eagles had built momentum late in the regular season with four wins in their final five games but fell to UW-Oshkosh in the first round of the conference tournament.
Middleton has experience at the Division I level, including coaching roles at Illinois, Stanford and South Carolina. She was also a standout player for South Carolina and currently sits at No. 9 for career points in Gamecocks’ history.
People are also reading…
“This is a special opportunity for me to work alongside a staff that I respect tremendously,” Middleton said in a release. “I cannot wait to start working with the exceptional young women in the Duke program on and off the court.”
Duke is led by head coach Kara Lawson and is coming off a 26-7 season in which the Blue Devils earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“Karen has experience at different levels and in different roles. She knows what it takes to win,” Lawson said in a release. “I wanted to find an experienced tactician to continue to grow our program and help us take that next step. I think she will blend well with an already established and talented staff. I love the fact that every single one of our coaches were impactful players at the Division I level. Karen, like our other assistants, played the game at a high level. I think that resonates with players today.”
UW-L must now replace both its men’s and women’s basketball coaches after Kent Dernbach took the head coaching job at UW-Stevens Point last month.
