MaryLynn Skarzenski, a
member of the New England Basketball Hall of
Fame, begins her second season as head coach of the Eagles
women’s basketball program in 2012-13. She was appointed in
October 2011.
In her first season, Skarzenski coaches the squad to a 19-9 overall
record (13-5 NECC) which included a return trip for the program to
the NECC finals (third time in four season), falling just short of
a return trip to the NCAA tournament. The 19 victories also marked
the second most in a season all-time for the program.
A graduate of and former basketball standout at Nichols College, Skarzenski joined DWC after serving the past two years as a top assistant coach at the University of New England (UNE) in Biddeford, Maine.
Skarzenski, who also served as the recruiting coordinator and Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) Advisor at UNE, was part of a Nor’easter program that posted back-to-back program records for wins in a season, going 23-6 in 2009-10 and 24-7 in 2010-11. UNE was also a combined 23-3 in the regular season against Commonwealth Coast Conference opponents.
During that span, the Nor’Easters reached the CCC championship game twice, winning the title in 2010. The program also earned bids to both the NCAA tournament (2010) and ECAC Tournament (2011)
The Woodbridge, N.J. native earned a degree in Mathematics with a minor in Psychology from Nichols in 2009, graduated as a regular member of the Dean’s List and two national honor societies, and served as vice president and later president of the Nichols SAAC Committee.
While Skarzenski was talented in the classroom, she was equally talented on the court and established herself as one of the best players in the history of the program. Over her four year career, she won almost every award available in CCC basketball, beginning with the CCC “Rookie of the Year” as a freshman, the CCC “Player of the Year” as a senior and three successive “Defensive Player of the Year” honors and was the CCC’s Senior Scholar-Athlete award winner in 2009
Moreover, she earned four successive CCC First Team All-Conference selections, three successive academic all-conference honors, and even found time to earn an all-conference selection for women’s soccer.
Skarzenski, who started every possible game of her career spanning 115 contests, helped guide the Bison to a four-year record of 83-32 (.721) which included two trips to the ECAC tournament and a program single-season record of 25 wins her senior year.
A 1,000-point scorer, Skarzenski remains fourth all-time on the Bison leader board at 1,333. She remains the program’s all-time assists leader (641), steals leader (409), games played and started (115)
