NE10 40th Anniversary Home Page
When the Northeast-10 selected its top 40 individuals as part of the conference's 40th anniversary, Bentley University's Barbara Stevens was a no-brainer to be included on the elite list. After all, she is one of the legendary women's basketball coaches in NCAA history.
Stevens, who announced her retirement in July following 34 years at Bentley and 43 years as a head coach, received the ultimate honor this past May when she was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. She's part of an amazing class that also includes Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and the late Kobe Bryant. The originally-scheduled induction ceremony was postponed due to the COVIC-19 pandemic and is now rescheduled for May 13-15, 2021.
Stevens, a five-time WBCA Division II National Coach of the Year, finished her amazing career with a 1,058-291 record, her win total ranking fourth in NCAA history behind only the late Pat Summitt, Stanford's Tara VanDerveer and UConn's Geno Auriemma.
Her impressive record includes 901-200 while on the Bentley bench. Her Falcon teams won a sparkling 82 percent of their games, reached the NCAA tournament 31 times and made 14 trips to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. Incredibly, her Falcons averaged a remarkable 26.5 wins per season.
Her tenure featured an undefeated national championship in 2014. Facing West Texas A&M in Erie, Pa. in the title game, her team used a press-fueled 19-5 game-closing run to overcome a six-point deficit and earn a 73-65 victory. At the time, it was just the second time in NCAA Division II history a team captured the title with an unblemished record.
How successful was Stevens in Northeast-10 competition? Consider these numbers:
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21 Northeast-10 regular season champions
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17 Northeast-10 tournament championships
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16 Northeast-10 Coach of the Year awards
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A 575-104 record and .847 winning percentage in regular season conference action
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75-16 in conference tournament games
When her retirement was announced, Bentley Vice President of Student Affairs said "Coach Stevens has long been a leader on our campus and a mentor for generations of student-athletes. The program that she created ensures that her legacy of success on and off the court will continue at Bentley."
"As spectacular as her record is, her impact on her players was far greater," praised former Bentley Director of Athletics Bob DeFelice. "Coach Stevens, her teams and Bentley University was a love affair that will last forever!"
Barbara Stevens Links of Note:
