Shanna Briggs enters her eighth season as the head coach of her
alma mater.
Briggs has compiled a 164-32 record in her first seven seasons
and has led the Cowgirls to the NCAA Final Four, the NCAA Elite
Eight two times, the NCAA Sweet 16 three times and has won two
American Southwest Conference titles and three ASC West Division
titles.
Last year’s team went 22-6 and lost in overtime of the
American Southwest Conference Tournament. She guided the 2007-08
team that did not return a starter from the year before to a record
of 21-6. All six losses were to team’s that made the NCAA
Tournament.
The 2007 team was ranked No. 1 in the nation by the
Women’s Basketball Coaches Association in team grade point
average. It was the fourth time in her first five years the
Cowgirls had been named to the WBCA Top 25 in academics.
The Cowgirls also led the nation in field goal percentage in
2007 and HSU was third in the nation in scoring. The Cowgirls also
ranked eighth in the nation in home attendance, marking the 10th
straight year HSU has been in the Division III Top 10.
Briggs has coached 19 players to All-ASC accolades. Lindsey
Newcombe was the ASC West Co-MVP last season. Mollie Brawner, Bo
Warm and Haylee Allen all earned All-ASC accolades in some form. In
2008, Rachel Cisneroz (second team, Ashley Allen (second team) and
Lindsey Newcombe (honorable mention). Allen was named newcomer of
the year and to the all-defense team and Newcombe was named to the
all-freshman team last season.
In 2007, Lyssa Dennard (first team), Laci Walker (second team)
and Melissa Contrucci (honorable mention) earned All-ASC honors.
Dennard was also named the ASC defensive player of the year.
In the 2006 Final Four season, Sonya West and Melissa Henley
were second-team All-ASC selections last season. Diana Martinez
earned All-ASC honors in 2005 for the Cowgirls and Melissa Henley
was an All-ASC West Division selection. In 2004, Lauren Harris and
Diana Martinez were named All-ASC and Veronica Jones was named ASC
Defensive player of the year. Harris was a finalist for the
Josten’s Trophy as the nation’s top student-athlete.
She was a Kodak All-American.
In 2003, she led the Cowgirls to a No. 1 national ranking, an
American Southwest Conference Championship and coached six players
to All-ASC honors. She also coached Kendra Anderson to national
player of the year honor in 2003s. Briggs was awarded ASC West
Division Conference Coach of the Year.
Briggs had a record-setting career as a player at Hardin-Simmons
from 1992-95. She most recently served as the head girl’s
basketball coach and Girls Athletic Coordinator at Decatur High
School in 2001-02. She was named Wise County Coach of the Year,
District 6-3A Coach of the Year and led Decatur to the Regional
Tournament.
In 2000-01, she led Venus High School to the playoffs and also
led the cross country team to the regionals. Briggs began her
coaching career as an assistant varsity basketball, junior varsity
head basketball, assistant track and freshman volleyball coach at
Abilene High School. She was with the Eagles from 1996 to 2000.
At Hardin-Simmons, Briggs was a three-time all-conference selection, including first-team honors in 1994 and 1995. She was an honorable mention All-American in 1995 and was three times an Academic All-Conference selection. Her teams won three conference titles at Hardin-Simmons and she played in two NAIA National Tournaments (1994 and 1995).
Briggs scored 1,365 points to rank fifth on the career scoring
list at Hardin-Simmons and is the school’s all-time leader in
points scored in a season (576) and 3-pointers made in a game (8),
season (71) and career (146). She is second in 3-point percentage
making 105-of-242 (.434) shots. She also ranks fifth in career
assists (229), fourth in blocked shots (38) and eighth in rebounds
(364) in HSU Cowgirl history. She played her final two seasons
under her predecessor Julie Goodenough.
Orsak begins her sixth season as an assistant coach for the Cowgirl basketball program.
She is involved in all aspects of the Cowgirl program including recruiting, on-the-court coaching, arranging travel and other administrative duties.
A former Cowgirl player, she had one of the best season¹s
ever by a HSU point guard her senior season. She was named the ASC
Defensive Player of the Year in the conference as a senior and had
157 points, 122 rebounds, 109 steals and 122 assists in 2001 as a
senior.
She was a four-year letterman for the Cowgirls. She was named
the top female student as a senior at Hardin-Simmons earning the
Olsen Medal and has a degree with a 4.0 in Computer Science. Orsak
was an academic all-district selection. She also earned a
master’s degree from HSU.
