WSC Women's Basketball
Head Coach
Chris Kielsmeier
Head Coach
The 2011-12 season marks the fourth year for Chris Kielsmeier as head women's basketball coach at Wayne State College. In three seasons with the Wildcats, Kielsmeier has guided the team to a 67-22 record, including a 49-13 mark in the Northern Sun Conference, along with one NSIC regular season title, one NSIC Sanford Health Tournament title and two straight trips to the NCAA Division II National Tournament. In his 11 seasons as a head coach, Kielsmeier owns a career record of 246-66.
Kielsmeier coached WSC to a 26-4 record in 2010-11, going 21-1 in the Northern Sun Conference to capture the NSIC regular season title by an impressive five games. The 21 wins were the most ever by an NSIC team in league play. The Wildcats went unbeaten at home for a second straight season, going 12-0 at Rice Auditorium, extending the team's win streak at home to 27 consecutive games.
WSC earned the school's highest ever national ranking in the 2010-11 season under Kielsmeier, climbing to sixth in the January 25, 2011 WBCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. The 26 wins tied for second most in school history and marked the fifth time in the last seven seasons that WSC women's basketball has won 20 or more games in the same season. The Wildcats finished the season ranked 14th, the highest-ever national ranking to end a season.
Kielsmeier also coached Wayne State's first-ever All-American in women's basketball during the 2010-11 season as junior forward Ashley Arlen collected three All-American honors after averaging team-highs of 16.4 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. She was named First Team All-American by the 2011 Women's Division II Bulletin and WBCA 2011 Division II State Farm All-America Teams along with Daktronics Second Team All-American honors voted on by sports information directors across the nation.
The Wildcats also excelled in the classroom during the 2010-11 season, named to the WBCA Academic Top 25 honor roll for the third straight season. The 2010-11 Wildcats ranked 22nd in NCAA Division II with a 3.452 grade point average. Kielsmeier's 2009-10 squad was 18th nationally with a 3.454 GPA while the 2008-09 team was 14th in NCAA Division II with a 3.473 team grade point average.
In 2009-10 Kielsmeier guided Wayne State to a 26-5 overall record, finishing tied for second in the NSIC with a 16-4 league mark that led to him receiving the 2010 NSIC Coach of the Year Award. The Wildcats captured the 2010 NSIC Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament Title, clinching a berth in the NCAA Division II National Tournament for the third time in five seasons. The 26 wins were the second most in school history and marked the fourth time in the last six seasons that Wayne State has recorded 20 or more wins in a season.
During the memorable 2009-10 season the Wildcats achieved several other milestones. WSC won 15 straight games at the end of the season, marking the second longest win streak in school history. The Wildcats also posted a perfect 15-0 mark at home in Rice Auditorium to record just the second unbeaten season at home in school history. WSC began the season 7-0 for the program's best start since 1974-75.
The Wildcats continued their trademark defense in the 2009-10 season leading the NSIC in numerous categories. WSC ranked first in the NSIC in scoring defense (57.0), field goal percentage defense (.360), three-point field goal percentage defense (.302) and ranked second in steals (10.84). WSC also ranked high nationally, leading NCAA Division II in fewest fouls per game (12.6) while also ranking 15th in fewest turnovers per game (14.8). The 'Cats were seventh in scoring margin (17.7) and ranked 10th in free throw percentage (.773) and three-point field goal percentage (.385).
Kielsmeier was hired as the 10th coach in the program's history on May 8, 2008. He comes to Wayne State College after serving eight years as head coach at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, an NCAA Division III school. He compiled an impressive 179-44 record as head coach and led the Lady Jackets to a 33-0 record and the NCAA Division III National championship in 2007-08. Kielsmeier was named the WBCA South Region and National Coach of the Year in 2007-08 and was selected the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Small College Coach of the Year. He was the winningest women's basketball coach in Howard Payne University history, coaching the school to four straight appearances (2005-08) in the NCAA Division III National Tournament.
While coaching at Howard Payne, Coach Kielsmeier developed a trademark of stellar defense. Over his final seven seasons at HPU, opponents shot just 34 percent from the field to rank as one of the top defenses in the nation. Kielsmeier's team ranked fourth in scoring defense in 2007-08 (47.5) and led NCAA Division III in scoring defense in 2006-07 allowing just 44.2 points per game.
During his career, Kielsmeier has coached two All-Americans, four honorable mention All-Americans, 45 All-Conference selections, three Freshmen of the Year, five All-Freshmen Team selections and 58 All-Academic selections. He has won one national title, two divisional championships, four conference tournament titles, one regular season conference title and is a four-time conference Coach of the Year award winner to go with two Region Coach of the Years and the 2008 WBCA National Coach of the Year recipient. In 2009-10 Kielsmeier received the WBCA Victory Club Coaches Award in honor of his 200th career win during the season.
Kielsmeier is a native of Iowa, graduating from Hubbard-Radcliffe High School and he is a 1999 graduate of Iowa State University. He served as the intern for the women's basketball program at Iowa State under head coach Bill Fennelly and then became the assistant women's basketball coach at Howard Payne University in the 1999-2000 season before taking over as the head coach in 2000.
Kielsmeier resides in Wayne, Nebraska.
