UAlbany Announces Joanna Bernabei-McNamee As Head Coach Of Women’s Basketball

ALBANY, N.Y. -- University at Albany Director of Athletics Mark Benson announced Friday the hiring of Joanna Bernabei-McNamee as the 11th head women’s basketball coach in program history and fourth head coach in the Great Danes’ Division I era. Bernabei-McNamee (pronounced Bern-uh-BEE Mac-Na-MEE), a native of Weirton, W.Va., comes to UAlbany after three seasons as the head coach of the University of Pikeville in Pikeville, Ky. There, McNamee racked up 63 wins and led the program to back-to-back National Tournament berths, including a program-record 26 victories and an NAIA Final Four appearance in 2016. McNamee was named the 2016 Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) NAIA Regional Coach of the Year, and was also named the 2015 Mid-South Conference Coach of the Year.