Miami University Women's Basketball Camps

Head Coach Maria Fantanarosa

Her tenth season at the helm of her alma mater was one to remember as Miami head coach Maria Fantanarosa led the RedHawks to the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. Miami won 12 of its final 13 games, captured the MAC tournament championship and earned the automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Since returning to her alma mater as head coach prior to the 1998-99 season, Fantanarosa has guided a resurgent program to eight winning seasons in the past 10 years, including two Mid-American Conference East Division crowns, the 2003-04 MAC regular-season championship and the 2008 MAC Tournament championship.

Fantanarosa became Miami's all-time winningest coach in program history with her 132nd win, an 87-79 victory over IUPUI on Dec. 30, 2006, passing Pam Wettig, who previously held the mark with a career record of 131-103. Fantanarosa's all-time record at Miami now stands at 161-133.

Fantanarosa's RedHawks have been consistently recognized for their outstanding achievements and contributions on and off the court. As a result, Director of Athletics Brad Bates recently extended Fantanarosa's contract through the 2013-14 season, noting that the mentor of the Red and White continues to attract and produce high-quality student-athletes.

"Maria has led our program to two championships in the last five years as well as our first NCAA Tournament appearance," said Bates. "Her students grow, develop and graduate as leaders in our communities. Her staff contributes to our culture in meaningful and engaging ways. As an alumna, Maria represents Miami with a unique passion and love that inspires us all. We look forward to her continued leadership and are very excited about her commitment to this great university."

A fiery competitor as both a player and a coach for the Red and White, Fantanarosa has been instrumental in directing the dramatic turnaround of a program that was coming off its first losing season in 10 years when she was hired in the summer of 1998.

Critical to the program's success has been an impressive recruiting effort that has brought four of the program's top seven career scoring leaders, as well as three of the top eight career rebounding leaders to campus during her tenure. Under her tutelage, Miami has produced 44 MAC Players of the Week, 16 all-MAC selections and four MAC All-Freshman honorees.

Since the 2000-01 season, Miami has been one of the most consistent powers in the Mid-American Conference, winning an impressive 93 games and finishing among the top three in the MAC East Division in all but two seasons. Though the end product is impressive, the road was not easy for Fantanarosa and the RedHawks.

Hired too late to recruit a freshman class for her inaugural season at Miami, Fantanarosa guided her first Miami team, which relied heavily on walk-ons, to a surprising 11-15 record and laid the groundwork for the blue-collar style of play that has become the signature of RedHawk basketball.

Miami returned to its winning ways during Fantanarosa's second season, as a talented freshman class brought new life to the program. The Red and White finished second in the MAC's East Division that season, compiling a 16-12 overall record and earning a spot in the MAC Quarterfinals.

With another strong recruiting class in place, Fantanarosa guided the 2000-01 RedHawks to an 18-11 record, including a 10-6 mark in the conference. Miami put an exclamation mark on the season with a thrilling upset of Ball State in the MAC Quarterfinals and made its return to the MAC Semifinals for the first time in five years.

The program continued to grow over the next two seasons, as Miami posted 36 wins and claimed the program's first MAC East Division Title in 2002-03. Heather Cusick was named MAC Player of the Year in 2001-02 and finished her career as Miami's all-time leading scorer with 1,728 points, a record that stood until the 2007-08 season.

The pinnacle arrived in 2003-04, when Miami stormed through the league by reeling off 12-straight wins in the heart of the MAC season and capturing the overall MAC Championship. That season resulted in the program's first appearance in the Postseason WNIT, where they advanced to the second round of the tournament. That season, senior Colleen Day became the first RedHawk to win a major academic honor as she was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American, notching second-team honors.

In 2007-08, the RedHawks won nine of their final 10 regular-season contests to earn a No. 3 seed in the MAC Tournament. The momentum continued as Miami battled for close victories in the quarterfinals and semifinals over Western Michigan and Toledo, respectively, before a second-half surge in the MAC Championship game resulted in the program's first MAC Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament berth.

In her 10 seasons, Fantanarosa's Miami squads have battled to a 161-133 (.548) overall record and 91-69 (.569) league mark. In addition to being the career wins leader at Miami, she ranks among the MAC's top 10 in career league wins. Fantanarosa surpassed Wettig two seasons ago for the longest tenure of any Miami women's basketball coach.
Fantanarosa, 42, became the seventh head coach at Miami after serving as head coach at Western Carolina in 1997-98.

Prior to Western Carolina, Fantanarosa was the top assistant at South Carolina for three seasons. Before her work with the Gamecocks, she was the number one assistant at Xavier, where the Musketeers won the Midwestern Collegiate Conference regular season title in 1991-92 and the conference tournament title one year later.

No stranger to awards and honors, Fantanarosa's playing career is marked with numerous accomplishments. With the Red and White she was twice named an All-MAC performer. Known for her competitiveness, Fantanarosa remains among Miami's top 10 career assist leaders (323) and ranks 14th on the all-time scoring list with 1,086 points.

During a prolific prep career at Mt. Carmel Area High School, Fantanarosa set Pennsylvania state records for most points in a career - male or female - (3,823) and most points in a single season (1,318). She was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in the fall of 2005. Nationally Fantanarosa's career point total ranks her among the top 10 high scorers in high school girls' basketball history.

A native of Kulpmont, Pa., Fantanarosa earned her bachelor's degree in speech communication with a minor in coaching science from Miami in 1990. She received her master's degree in sports administration from Xavier in 1993. Fantanarosa and her husband Tim Morrow have two daughters, Lauren (five) and Allison (three).