Lora Westling enters her sixth season as the head coach of the Western Colorado women's basketball program in 2021-22.
Westling's tenure at Western has produced a resurgence in women's basketball. In her first five seasons, Westling's teams have made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances (the first two in program history) while making three consecutive RMAC Tournaments (after not making it for seven seasons). Her 66 victories ranks third on the Western all-time list and her 54 RMAC wins ranks second.
In a pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season, the Mountaineers went 14-6 overall, climbed as high as No. 7 in the national rankings (highest in program history) and had the best undefeated (5-0) and one-loss (10-1) starts in program history. Four players earned All-RMAC honors in Hannah Cooper (first team), Smantha Coleman (second team), Emmery Wagstaff (second team) and Jessie Erickson (honorable mention).
The 2019-20 season saw Westling guide the Mountaineers to their first ever NCAA Division II Tournament selection since moving from NAIA in 1992 (the tournament was canceled the day before it started due to COVID-19 precautions). The Mountaineers went 20-7 overall - the third time the program reached the 20-win mark and the first time since 1986-87. Western went 18-4 in RMAC play to finish in second place - the most conference wins in program history.
The 2019-20 team ranked in the top 10 in Division II in scoring defense - allowing 54.2 points per game (10th in the NCAA) - while the Mountaineers ranked 20th in field goal percentage defense (35.1 percent) and 13th in 3-point percentage defense (26.2 percent). It was a team effort led by RMAC Freshman of the Year Hannah Cooper - who also made the All-RMAC Second Team along with Samantha Coleman and Katie Dalton. Gabie Doud earned All-RMAC Honorable Mention.
The 2018-19 season saw the Mountaineers return to the conference tournament for the first time in seven years and just the fifth time in school history. The team earned 12 conference victories, tied for second best in school history, and the 16 overall wins tied for fifth most in the program history.
Following the historic 2018-19 season, Tammarrah Gothard and Samantha Coleman were named to All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams. Gothard was named the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year, earning an All-RMAC Second Team nod, while Coleman was named All-RMAC Honorable Mention.
In the 2017-18 season, Western earned nine wins on the season. Additionally Katie Dalton received Honorable Mention All-RMAC recognition. In her first season at Western, Westling led the Mountaineer women to seven victories - the most wins for the program in five seasons
Prior to Western, Westling spent three seasons as head coach of Illinois College.
In her first season as head coach of the Lady Blues, Westling guided the team to a five-win improvement in both its overall and MWC records. The Lady Blues followed that in 2014-15 with their first trip to the MWC Tournament in five seasons. Under Westling’s guidance, Hannah McGinnis won back-to-back Midwest Conference Player of the Year awards and was a Capital One Academic All-America as a senior.
Prior to the head job at Illinois College, Westling was the top assistant at NCAA D-II Truman State from 2010-13. She was part of a staff at Truman that built a team that finished the 2012-13 season 20-8 and spent 11 weeks in the national rankings. At Truman State, Westling was the recruiting coordinator and guards/defensive coach.
Westling's first full-time position came at University of Missouri-St. Louis where she was the top assistant from 2007-10. At UMSL, Westling was recruiting coordinator and the position specialists for guards.
A native of Casper, Wyoming, Westling earned a bachelor’s degree from Washburn University in 2005. She earned her MBA from Washburn in 2007. Westling was a standout member of Washburn’s basketball and soccer teams, helping the school’s basketball team to a Division II national championship in 2005. She finished her career as Washburn’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made (144) and games played (132).
Westling got her start in coaching at Washburn, where she served as an assistant women’s basketball and women’s soccer coach.
