Kelly Warnke Named PLU Women’s Basketball Head Coach

Pacific Lutheran University has hired Kelly Warnke as women’s basketball head coach, director of athletics Laurie Turner announced today.

“Kelly will be a great addition to the athletic program at PLU,” said Turner. “She believes strongly in NCAA Division III athletics. She competed at the highest level of Division III women’s basketball and has been an assistant coach in some of the country’s best Division III programs. We believe that she will continue the successes that the women’s basketball program has had at PLU.”

A native of Casco, Wis., Warnke brings with her eight years of college assistant coaching experience in which she helped teams to three conference championships and one NCAA Elite Eight finish.

Warnke started her coaching career in 1999 as an assistant coach at University of Evansville. From there she moved back to her alma mater and became an assistant coach at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. While serving as an assistant at Oshkosh, Warnke helped the Titans to two Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships (2001 and 2004). In 2005, Warnke moved to Ohio to became an assistant coach at Baldwin-Wallace College, where in the past two seasons the women’s basketball program won 46 and lost 12. In addition to coaching basketball, Warnke served as the women’s golf head coach.

As a student-athlete, Warnke was both a solid player and leader and served as a team captain during the 1998-99 season. She played on UW-Oshkosh's undefeated 1996 NCAA Division III national championship team, on conference championship squads in 1996, 1998 and 1999, and helped the Titans reach four straight NCAA tournaments while compiling an impressive record of 107-8.

- PLU -