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April 23, 2007

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -

Tanya Warren, associate head coach at Creighton, has been named University of Northern Iowa head women's basketball coach, UNI director of athletics Rick Hartzell announced today.

A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Warren has been on staff at Creighton the past three seasons, and has 13 years of Division I collegiate coaching experience overall.  Warren previously served as an assistant coach at UNI for six seasons (1995-2001) under Tony DiCecco, and other prior assistant coaching stops include Missouri and Iowa State.

"I am so thankful to Rick Hartzell and the Panther family for giving me this opportunity," Warren said.  "Being a Division I head coach has been a dream of mine.  Having helped lay the foundation for the future success of UNI's program 12 years ago, my dream could not have come true at a better place.  I have always loved and respected this program. God has a hand in all things and to have the opportunity to come back to Northern Iowa is truly a blessing.  I'm excited to work with this staff as we look to build on the success that UNI women's basketball has had over the years."

"We are thrilled to be able to bring Tanya Warren back to UNI to be our new head women's coach," Hartzell said.  "She and I will work together, as hard as we can, to build upon what Tony DiCecco started and get this program to an MVC championship level.  That effort will begin immediately.  Tanya is the right person for this job at this time, and she will bring a new style to this program, which I believe will pay dividends."

Warren, a 1988 graduate of Creighton, returned to her alma mater in 2004. 
In three seasons with the Bluejays, she helped lead Creighton to a WNIT 
appearance in 2005 and the Missouri Valley Conference tournament 
championship game in 2007. Working as associate head coach, Warren 
was instrumental in developing Megan Neuvirth, the 2007 MVC 
Newcomer of the Year, as well as Sam Schuett who was named to the 
2007 MVC all-freshmen team. During her tenure at Creighton she coached 
three all-MVC players.

Warren returned to Creighton after a three-year stint as an assistant at the University of Missouri (2001-04). In those three years, the Tigers made three postseason appearances, including a trip to the NCAA tournament in 2004.  She also worked as the recruiting coordinator at Missouri, and she coached five all-Big 12 selections, two of whom went on to play in the WNBA.

Prior to her time at Missouri, Warren worked as an assistant at UNI from 1995-2001. She coached several of the best players in UNI program history, including current assistants Kelley (Westhoff) Jacobs and Allison (Starr) Pohlman. She also helped develop UNI's all-time scoring leader, Amy Swisher, as well as first-team all-MVC selections Alex Cook, Abbie Schutte, Kary Dawson, and Katie Miller. Warren joined the Panther program in DiCecco's first season, inheriting a team that won just four games the year prior. UNI improved its number of wins by at least three in each of the first four seasons under the new staff, and in 2001 Warren helped lead UNI to an18-win season and its first postseason appearance when the Panthers earned a bid to the WNIT.

Warren's first collegiate coaching experience was at Iowa State, where she spent one season as an assistant. Before joining the Cyclones, she spent two seasons as the head girls coach at Duchesne High School in Omaha, Neb., leading the team to its first state tournament appearance in the program's history. Warren's coaching career began with a four-year term as the head girls' coach at Boys Town High School in Omaha.

Warren earned several accolades in her four seasons as a player at Creighton. She holds the CU record for assists in a career and a season. Her 228 assists in 1987 ranked 10^th nationally, and she ranks seventh on Creighton's career scoring chart with 1,566 points. She averaged 18.7 points per game in 1987, and she was named to the WNIT all-tournament team and was a Kodak District V selection that season.

Warren's No. 10 jersey is one of two retired numbers as Creighton, and she is also a member of the Creighton University Hall of Fame. A standout career at Des Moines Lincoln High School led her to be inducted into both the Lincoln High School Hall of Fame and the Iowa High School Girls Hall of Fame.