In the history of NCAA women's basketball, only six coaches have amassed at least 1,000 career victories, an elite group that includes Bentley University's Hall of Fame coach, Barbara Stevens.

 

Stevens, the only non-Division I coach in that exclusive club and a 2020 selection for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, joined the late Pat Summitt (Tennessee), Tara VanDerveer (Stanford), Geno Auriemma (Connecticut) and Sylvia Hatchell (North Carolina) in the 1,000-win club when her team dispatched Adelphi University, 78-66, on January 17, 2018. Stevens retired in June 2020, fourth all-time in career victories with a 43-year record of 1058-291.

 

The pinnacle of Stevens' coaching career came March 28, 2014, when her 28th Bentley team capped off a perfect season, 35-0, with a come-from-behind 73-65 win over West Texas A&M for the program's first-ever NCAA Division II national championship.

 

Stevens, a five-time Russell Athletic/WBCA Division II National Coach of the Year (including 2013 and 2014), posted a record of 901-200 in 34 Bentley seasons. 

           

Stevens’ total 1058 career victories came in 1349 games, resulting in a career winning percentage of .784. Do the math and you’ll see that she is more than 750 games over .500! 

     

The most impressive statistic is the fact that Barbara Stevens’ Bentley teams have averaged 26.5 wins a season. That’s while playing a 26 or 27-game regular season schedule over most of her tenure! 

                 

Barbara, who has seen a number of her former players go on to coach in the college ranks, has also reached the top of her profession off the court, serving as the 1994-95 President of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. No other Division II coach has ever headed the 4,000-member organization.    

               

Barbara came to Bentley in 1986 after three years as Head Coach at University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass). The 1976 Bridgewater State product began her coaching career as an assistant coach at Clark during the 1976-77 season. “Barby” was promoted to head coach the following year and met with a great deal of success during her six seasons at helm, winning nearly 75 percent of time. The Cougars averaged better than 20 wins a season and reached the NCAA Division III Final Four in both 1982 and 1983.   

               

At UMass, Barbara had a three-year record of 34-49 while coaching in the highly competitive Atlantic 10 Conference. During her tenure at UMass, that conference frequently had three teams ranked in the top twenty.  

            

Stevens was one of 100 members of the charter induction class into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in October 2002, and both the Clark and Bridgewater State Halls of Fame have also called her name.    

          

In 2002, Stevens was presented with the prestigious Carol Eckman Award from the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, given for sportsmanship, commitment to the student-athlete, honesty, ethical behavior, courage and dedication to purpose. 

             

In July 1994, she traveled to France and Israel as an assistant coach for the USA Select Team, marking the second straight summer she was involved in USA Basketball. In 1993, she was an assistant coach for the West team at the U.S. Olympic Festival.         

    

Barbara is a native of Southbridge. She resides in Waltham.

 

Read all of Barby's stats here.