Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1115425
T o anyone who might be wondering why she left her alma mater to come to Penn State, Carolyn Kieger has a compelling response: Look at what Cael Sanderson has built in Happy Valley. Sanderson had a pretty good thing going at Iowa State, overseeing three top-five NCAA tournament finishes at the school where he had been an undefeated four-time na- tional champion wrestler a few years earlier. But when the Penn State job came open in 2010, he jumped at the chance to take over a program with seemingly vast untapped potential. Eight NCAA team championships later, it's safe to say that his decision has worked out nicely. Kieger, who was formally introduced on April 12 as the sixth head coach in Lady Lion basketball history, sees Penn State's ultra-successful wrestling coach as an as- pirational figure now that she's getting set to embark on a similar transition. "It's my in- tention to follow his lead," she said. "His program is a model for all programs in NCAA sports right now." Kieger earned that opportunity by building Marquette into one of the top programs in the Big East. During her five- year tenure, the Golden Eagles went 99- 64, including a 76-26 record the past three seasons. They won two Big East regular-season titles, as well as a confer- ence tournament championship, and they made the NCAA tournament three years in a row – the first time Marquette had done that in 20 years. W O M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L | EAGLE EYED Kieger went 99-64 in her five seasons at Marquette, includ- ing a 76-26 mark over the past three seasons. Photo courtesy of Mar- quette Athletics