Gail Striegler,who helped coach Arkansas to a Southwest Conference championship and a No. 9 national ranking last season, begins her first season as assistant women's basketball coach at Northwestern State.
During the 1990-91 season, Striegler served as a graduate assistant at Arkansas as the Lady Razorbacks went 28-4, a school record for victories in a season. Arkansas on the SWC regular season and tournament titles and reached the NCAA tournament quarterfinals under head coach John Sutherland.
"Gail really did a wonderful job for us this past season," said Sutherland. "She has a lot of ability and I think it's a testament to that ability that she was able to get a job at a strong Division I program like Northwestern's."
"I am confident she will do an excellent job for the Lady Demons," said Sutherland.
"Coming from a quality program, Gail understands what's necessary to be successful at the level we want," says Lady Demon head man, James Smith. "She's a very impressive individual, somebody who will be a tremendous representative of Lady Demon basketball."
"I am very excited about the program and the job," says Striegler. "The Lady Demon program has enjoyed great success for a long period of time, and it's not by accident. It's a thrill to join the team."
During the past season, Striegler worked with the Arkansas post players, including Kodak All-American Delmonica DeHorney.
"Gail was an outstanding post player herself in college and worked in that area at Arkansas," comments Smith. "She will be able to give us a great deal of help with our inside players."
Before spending 18 months at Arkansas, she was an assistant coach for part of one season at Central Arkansas while completing undergraduate work at her alma mater.
Striegler, 24, is a native of Fayetteville, Arkansas, and was the Most Valuable Player for Fayetteville High in the 1985 Arkansas Class AAAA Tournament. She was an All-State selection in 1984Â and 1985.
She played four seasons at Central Arkansas, winning All-District honors in 1988-89.
The daughter of Curtis and Joyce Striegler, she earned a bachelor sof science in physical education from UCA in 1989 with a 3.2 grade point average and a master of science degree in Kinesiology from Arkansas with a 3.8 GP in 1991.
Striegler's duties at Northwestern will center on recruiting as well as handling on-floor coaching duties and working with all areas of the program.
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