June 8, 2007

Erie, Pa. - The Mercyhurst Athletic Department has announced the hiring of Deanna Richard, head coach at Olivet College for the past six years, as the new head women's basketball coach. Having been associated with three schools from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), Richard brings familiarity with the conference and a wealth of experience to Mercyhurst.

Although she has spent the past six years at NCAA Division III Olivet, Richard worked as an assistant coach at a pair of GLIAC schools - Wayne State and Ferris State. She earned her bachelor's degree from Oakland University, playing basketball for the school from 1992-96 when it was a GLIAC member. As well, she earned her master's degree in sports administration from Wayne State in 2001.

"I played in that Division II atmosphere," Richard said. "I'm very familiar with it and with the GLIAC. It's a very competitive league."

At Olivet, Richard built a program that had not seen much success historically. The program averaged just four wins per season in the nine years prior to her arrival, but the 2001-02 squad, her first season at the helm, went 7-17. The program steadily improved, building to a 13-14 record in 2005-06 with an 8-8 record in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA). In her final year, the program reached .500 for the first time in her tenure, going 12-12 and setting a school record by finishing 9-7 in the MIAA. It marked just the third time in 29 years of Olivet women's basketball that the team finished .500 or better. In her six seasons, she had a combined record of 61-92 and 30-60 in the MIAA.

Her squads have used the three-point shot as a weapon, ranking in the Division III top 25 in three-pointers made per game in each of the past five seasons. The 2006-07 team also ranked 39th in field-goal percentage.

"Using the three-point shot is kind of my style," Richard said. "But you have to recruit good guards and good shooters to do that. If we don't have the players (at Mercyhurst) right away to use that, we won't."

At Mercyhurst, Richard will look to continue a rebuilding process begun by former coach Karin Nicholls, who won just 22 games in three seasons, finishing 6-21 a year ago. The squad had a 10-41 record in GLIAC games during her tenure. In all, Mercyhurst has not had a winning season since the 1999-00 team went 15-12. The Lakers do have a tradition of success, however, posting three 20-win seasons, including a school-record mark of 24-6 in 1994-95.

After evaluating the condition of the program, Richard feels that the talent on the team is solid, but one of her initial priorities will be to instill more discipline in strength and conditioning. As well, she feels that she needs to have the current players buy into her system.

"I like the challenge of building a program as a coach," Richard said, "but I need to gain the respect of the current players."

Richard played at Oakland from 1992-96 when the school was part of the GLIAC. She led her team to three straight NCAA appearances, a Great Lakes Regional Championship, and a trip to the Elite Eight in 1994-95. During her senior year, Richard ranked fourth in the nation in three-point field-goals made and was named GLIAC Player of the Year, finishing her career with 1,333 career points. She was inducted into the Oakland University Hollie L. Lepley Hall of Honor on April 21, 2007.

After graduating from Oakland, Richard played one year of professional basketball in Portugal for Clube Desportivo de Povoa. She helped her team to a conference championship, averaging 27.4 points, 11.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game, while shooting 58.2 percent from the floor.