Episode 373: Coach Molly Goodenbour (Head Women's Basketball Coach at University of San Francisco) "The Lady Don's Player Development System"

EDUCATION:

• Stanford - 1989-93

YEARS AT SAN FRANCISCO:

• Sept. 2016 - Present

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS AT SAN FRANCISCO:

• Molly Goodenbour, a two-time national champion at Stanford who has over a decade of head coaching experience on the collegiate level, was named the ninth head coach in University of San Francisco women's basketball history on Sept. 28, 2016. This is Goodenbour's third coaching stint on the Hilltop, where she served as an assistant coach with the Dons during the 1994-95 and 2005-06 seasons.

• In 2023-24, Goodenbour led San Francisco to a second-half resurgence as the team finished in a tie for third place in the West Coast Conference standings after starting the season with a 4-9 record. The program posted double-digit victories in WCC play for the fifth time in Goodenbour's tenure as the team finished at 10-6, highlighted by season sweeps of Pacific, Saint Mary's, Pepperdine, and LMU.  

• San Francisco also finished the season strong, rolling eventual WCC Tournament Champions Portland on the road, earning 59-47 victory at Chiles Center.

• Under Goodenbour's guidance, Jasmine Gayles and Debora dos Santos earned All-WCC First Team honors. Dos Santos recorded a career season, averaging a double-double with 15.3 points and 10.6 rebounds per game while Gayles led the squad in scoring at 16.8 points per game. Gayles also recorded the second 40-point game in program history as she dropped 40 points in an 81-68 win at Pacific on January 13

• The 2022-23 season under the leadership of Goodenbour concluded with an overall record of 19-13. Three Dons earned All-WCC Selections while two Dons earned WCC All-

• Within the first six years on the Hilltop, Goodenbour posted impressive numbers, including becoming the winningest coach in USF history through 50 games (27-23), as well as through two seasons at 34-28 (.548). Goodenbour quickly built up her impressive resume at USF, becoming the first coach to post winning overall and conference records in her first two seasons on the job. 

• Building off the program's strong start to the new decade, the Dons were once again punching a postseason ticket as they battled through a grueling non-conference schedule that kept them away from the Hilltop from Thanksgiving until after New Year's Day. Following an 0-4 start to WCC play battling through injuries and COVID-19 related pauses, the Dons went on to rattle off wins in six of their next seven games and finished with the third seed heading into the WCC Tournament. USF would go on to defeat Santa Clara in Vegas before returning home to host Air Force in the WNIT.

• Since the start of the 2020-21 season, Goodenbour's Dons have made consecutive WNIT appearances and won at least one game in back-to-back WCC Tournaments. Led by two-time All-WCC first team selection Ioanna Krimili, USF's 2020-21 team led the conference in total points and points per game while being a top-four program in team plus/minus. 

• Goodenbour’s third WCC Tournament in 2019 saw her lead the Dons to a first-round victory over Portland, marking the seventh year in a row the Dons advanced beyond their opening game.

• Molly’s 2017-18 squad placed three WCC All-Conference and All-Academic honorees. Anna Seilund earned First-Team All-WCC and Second-Team All-WCC recipients Michaela Rakova and Kalyn Simon.

• She finished her first year on the Hilltop in 2016-17 with an 18-13 overall record that included an 11-7 mark in West Coast Conference play, good for a fourth-place finish, the Dons' highest since the 2002-03 season. In the process, Goodenbour became the first USF head coach since Sue Rojcewicz in 1982-83 to post a winning recor