Katie Falco is entering her fifth season as the head coach of the Lindenwood women’s basketball team in 2022-23.
During Lindenwood's final season as a Division II program, Falco led them to an 11-16 record, including an 8-11 mark in GLVC play. Under Falco,
Julia Ruzevich put together arguably the best season in program history, collecting two All-America awards and earning GLVC Player of the Year. The Orland Park, Ill., native was also named the GLVC Richard F. Paragon award winner, which recognizes the league's top female athlete of the year. Joining Ruzevich to the All-GLVC lists were teammates
Devin Fuhring and
Ellen McCorkle. Fuhring, who earned the third All-GLVC Second Team of her career, averaged 14.0 points in 18 games, while totaling 62 rebounds and 50 assists. Meanwhile, McCorkle recorded 11.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in her final season.
Navigating the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21, the Lions finished 11-9 under Falco in a conference-only season. Lindenwood was one of the top teams in the GLVC inside the paint defensively with Falco’s guidance, finishing first in blocked shots (94), blocked shots per game (4.7), rebounds per game (40.1), and rebound margin (7.5). Numerous players relished under the coaching of Falco, as three Lions secured All-GLVC accolades, and three student-athletes received GLVC Player of the Week honors. Julia Ruzevich, a first-team All-GLVC selection and two-time GLVC Player of the Week, broke out with the help of Falco and finished with 11 double doubles during the campaign, good for 10th in the country. In the classroom, the Lions collected GLVC Team Academic All-Conference honors, and 12 student-athletes collected Academic All-GLVC honors.
The 2019-20 season saw continued success for the program, as the team finished 19-9, with a 14-6 mark in the GLVC. Falco helped formulate one of the top offenses in the entire conference, as the team finished second in scoring offense, putting up 77.6 points per game as a unit. Under the tutelage of Falco, players enjoyed record-setting seasons, with Kallie Bildner becoming the school's career points leader, en route to a unanimous All-Conference first team selection. Devin Fuhring and Lindsay Medlen also excelled under Falco, as both players were second-team All-Conference honorees. The team captured a 20-point victory in the GLVC Tournament as a five seed, beating the fourth-seeded Truman State Bulldogs, 79-59. The team was selected to play in the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament as an at-large pick, marking the second-straight season Falco has achieved that as head coach of the Lions.
In Falco's first season as head coach of the Lions, the team finished 21-8, which was the most wins for Lindenwood in the NCAA-era. Additionally, Falco oversaw the development of Kallie Bildner, as she finished the year as a D2CCA All-Central Region selection. In conference games, the Lions were 14-5, earning the three seed in the MIAA Conference Championship and placing three players on All-MIAA teams. Though the Lions fell in the MIAA Championship, Lindenwood received an at-large bid to the NCAA Central Regional, the first at-large bid in program history. The Lions finished the season with a .470 field goal percentage, a Lindenwood NCAA record and the seventh-best mark in Division II during the season. Lindenwood also finished eighth in the NCAA with a 9.4 rebounding margin. In the classroom, the Lions finished the year with a 3.691 GPA, seventh in the nation.
Falco came to Lindenwood after spending the previous 10 seasons as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I South Dakota State. She helped guide the Jackrabbits to 10 postseason appearances, four Summit League regular-season titles and a 248-87 overall record. With SDSU, Falco was responsible for recruiting, scouting and coaching the team's perimeter players. In addition to her on-court responsibilities, Falco served as the Jackrabbits' academic coordinator. In this capacity, she helped lead the team to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Academic Top 25 Team Honor roll in seven of her nine years. Additionally, the Jackrabbits finished with the nation's top GPA during the 2010-11 season.
Prior to SDSU, Falco worked as an assistant coach at Montana State for three seasons. With her on staff, MSU oversaw a program that went from three wins in 2005-06 to 18 wins in 2007-08 and an appearance in the Big Sky Conference Championship game.
Falco was a standout player at Northern Iowa, ending her career fifth on the UNI career scoring charts with 1,343 points. A first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference performer in 2003, she finished second in the league with 18.2 points per game, leading the Panthers to their second Women's NIT appearance in three years. She also set the UNI record for career free throw percentage at 82.4 percent, making an MVC-record 53 consecutive free throws as a freshman. Falco excelled in the classroom, earning Verizon Academic All-America honors in 2003 while completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in sports psychology. She pursued a master's degree in physical education at Utah State, where she served two years as graduate assistant for the Aggie women's basketball team.
Falco is a native of Solon, Iowa, and she and her husband, David, are the parents of Dominic, Jillian, and Sullivan.
COACHING RECORD
|
|
Overall Record |
Conference Record |
Home Record |
Road Record |
Neutral Record |
| 2021-22 |
Lindenwood |
11-16 (.407) |
8-11 (.421) |
7-6 (.538) |
4-10 (.286) |
0-0 |
| 2020-21 |
Lindenwood |
11-9 (.550) |
11-9 (.550) |
7-4 (.636) |
4-5 (.444) |
0-0 |
| 2019-20 |
Lindenwood |
19-9 (.679) |
14-6 (.700) |
9-2 (.818) |
8-5 (.615) |
2-2 (.500) |
| 2018-19 |
Lindenwood |
21-8 (.724) |
14-5 (.737) |
12-1 (.923) |
6-5 (.546) |
3-2 (.600) |
| CAREER |
|
62-42 (.596) |
47-31 (.603) |
28-7 (.800) |
18-15 (.546) |
5-4 (.556) |
