Honors & Accomplishments
• Winningest coach in Cornell women’s basketball history.
• Longest tenured active coach in the Ivy League.
• Ivy League Tournament participant (2019)
• Ivy League Champions (2008)
• University of Rhode Island Athletic Hall of Fame inductee (2009)
Coaching Experience
• Head Coach, Cornell University (2002 - Present)
• Assistant Coach, University of Pennsylvania (1999-2002)
• Assistant Coach, University of Rhode Island (1996-99)
Education
• B.S., Business Management, University of Rhode Island (1996)
At Cornell
Smith was named the seventh head women’s basketball coach at Cornell University on June 19, 2002 and became the first Rebecca Quinn Morgan ‘60 Head Coach of Women’s Basketball when the position was endowed in the fall of 2003.
In her 18 seasons at the helm of the Big Red program, Smith has led Cornell to unprecedented success. The winningest coach in the history of the program, and the second-longest tenured active women’s basketball coach in the Ivy League, she has raised the bar for the Big Red, making success an expectation among its players, alumni and fans.
During her head coaching tenure, Smith’s players have earned 31 All-Ivy honors, including one Ivy League Player of the Year award and one All-America selection (Jeomi Maduka '09).
A coach that also stresses excellence in the classroom, Smith's players have been named Academic All-Ivy on 13 occasions, while five student-athletes have earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors, including Allyson DiMagno ’14, who was a three-time first-team honoree, and Laura Bagwell-Katalinich '20, who received first-team accolades in 2018 and 2019. DiMagno '14 and Bagwell-Katalinich '20 were also named candidates for the Senior CLASS Award in collegiate women's basketball.
Smith Notables
• Smith has coached six of Cornell’s 15 1,000-point scorers, including Samantha Widmann '20, while her former players have set the school records in career points, career rebounds, career assists, career blocked shots, career steals, career 3-point field goal percentage, career free throws made, career free throw percentage, career offensive rebounds, and career defensive rebounds.
• Smith has also coached Cornell’s single season record holders in field goals made, free throws made, free throw percentage, 3-point field goal percentage, rebounds, defensive rebounds, offensive rebounds, and assists.
• With five top-four Ivy League finishes, Smith has surpassed the number of top-half finishes achieved by Cornell in the 20 years prior to her arrival.
• Cornell, chosen to finish eighth in the 2018-19 Ivy League Preseason Media Poll, placed fourth in the conference to advance to the Ivy Tournament for the first time in the three-year history of the league's postseason play.
• With its 7-6 record in non-conference games during the 2022-23 campaign, the Big Red secured a winning non-conference record for the eighth time in the last ten seasons. The team recorded a winning non-conference slate for five-straight seasons from 2012-13 to 2016-17, the longest streak in program history.
• The 2016-17 squad also matched the school record for the most non-conference wins in program history (9), set twice before, both during Smith’s tenure (2007-08, 2014-15).
• In total, the Cornell women's basketball program has posted eight or more non-conference wins 10 times, more than half (6) have come during Smith's time on the bench.
• Led the 2007-08 team to the most successful season in program history, as the Big Red closed out the year with a school record for wins (20), as well as setting records for most conference wins (11), points scored (1,889), 3-pointers made (200) and assists (436) in a season.
• After winning its first-ever Ivy League title in 2007-08, the Big Red earned its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.
• The Big Red faced No. 1 Connecticut in the first round of the 2007-08 NCAA tournament. Cornell fell to the Huskies, 89-47, but managed to score more points against UConn than 12 schools during the regular season, including postseason participants Hartford, Old Dominion, Rutgers, South Carolina, Villanova and Virginia.
• Led the Big Red to its only undefeated conference home slate in school history in 2007-08.
Prominent Cornell Pupils
• Samantha Widmann '20 – Widmann became Cornell's 15th player in program history to join the 1,000-point club, finishing her career with 1,159 points, a mark which ranks 12th all-time in the Big Red record books. She leaves Cornell ranked fourth all-time in career offensive rebounds (221), fifth in career field goal percentage (.465), sixth in career defensive rebounds (387), sixth in career steals (174), eighth in career rebounds (608), and 10th in career field goals made (437).
• Laura Bagwell-Katalinich '20 – Bagwell-Katalinich became the 11th first-team All-Ivy selection in Big Red women's basketball history in 2018-19 after ranking in the top 10 in the Ivy League in scoring (fourth), rebounding (third), free throw percentage (first), field goal percentage (10th), steals per game (10th), offensive rebounds (third) and defense rebounds (ninth). She put together one of the best campaigns in program history that season, becoming the third Big Red player to finish a season ranked in the top-10 in both points (419) and rebounds (206) for a single season.
• Nia Marshall ’17 – One of the most prolific scorers in Ivy League history, Marshall became Cornell's all-time scoring leader with 1,685 career points … Graduated as Cornell's record holder in free throws made and games started, while ranking in the top five in Cornell history for career scoring average (second), field goals made (second), field goal percentage (seventh), rebounds (fifth), rebounding average (ninth), defensive rebounds (third), offensive rebounds (fifth), steals (second), blocked shots (fourth), games played (third), and minutes played (third).
• Allyson DiMagno ’14 – One of the greatest players in Ivy League history, DiMagno became just the 10th player ever overall, and first at Cornell, to accumulate 1,300 points and 900 rebounds … Graduated as the all-time career rebounding leader in Big Red history (938) and also set the single season record with 321 in 2012-13.
• Claire Fitzpatrick ’13 – The first-ever player under Smith to reach 1,000 career points and 600 career rebounds … Left Cornell ranking seventh in Big Red history in points (1,201), sixth in rebounds (609), and fifth in blocked shots (68).
• Lauren Benson ’10 – One of the best point guards in the history of the Ivy league, Benson set the Cornell record for assists in a career assist (515), a single season (156) and a single game (12).
• Jeomi Maduka ’09 – The first Cornell women’s basketball player to be named the Ivy League Player of the Year (2008) and earn honorable mention All-America honors from the Associated Press … Was the 2006 Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
• Karen Force ’04 – The first junior in the history of Cornell women’s basketball to be named to the conference’s first-team, Force ended her career as one of the top point guards in Ivy League history. She was the first Ivy women's basketball player to record totals of more than 1,250 points and 400 assists in a career. Inducted into the Cornell Hall of Fame in 2015.
Prior to Cornell
Smith came to East Hill after helping build the programs at Rhode Island and Penn for a combined six seasons. Her coaching career began immediately following her graduation, as she joined her alma mater as the third assistant. She was promoted the next spring, and a year later, became URI’s primary assistant. Smith also held a three-month stint as interim head coach during her final season in Kingston. Her head coaching responsibility came at the age of 25, making her the youngest head coach ever at URI.
From there, Smith moved on to Penn, where she helped Cornell’s Ivy League rival to the 2000-01 conference crown and a trip to the NCAA tournament, as well as a pair of regular season runner-up finishes.
In her three seasons at Penn, the Quakers posted a 52-31 overall record and a 31-11 Ivy League record, including an undefeated 14-0 conference slate in 2000-01. Smith was instrumental in recruiting one first-team All-Ivy and two all-rookie players in her short tenure and assisted in the development of two-time Ivy Player of the Year Diana Caramanico, the conference’s all-time leading scorer (2,415 points).
Playing Career
One of the top point guards in Atlantic 10 history, Smith helped lead the Rams to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 1996, capping a season where URI also captured its first A-10 East Division crown. A two-time first team all-conference pick, Smith was one of only 11 players in Division I history to score more than 1,000 points and record 750 assists. She rewrote the Rhode Island record book, graduating as the program’s all-time assist and 3-point field goal leader. She finished second in the nation in assists as a sophomore and ranked fourth as a junior. She still ranks among the top 20 in the NCAA all-time in career assists per game average (17th, 7.14). Smith was inducted into the Rhode Island Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009.
Personal
A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Smith resides in Ithaca.
*Updated July 2023
