BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Congratulations to Bridgewater State University Athletics Hall of Famer and long-time Bentley University women's basketball coach Barbara Stevens who recorded her 1,000th career coaching victory on Wednesday (Jan. 17) night.
Stevens became just the fifth women's basketball coach, and seventh college basketball coach overall, to reach the milestone with a 78-66 win over Adelphi University in a Northeast-10 Conference game.
Stevens, who reached the milestone in 1,274 games over the course of 41 seasons, joined the ranks of Pat Summit, Tara VanDerveer, Sylvia Hatchell and Geno Auriemma, along with men's coaches Mike Krzyzewski and Herb Magee, in the elite group of 1,000-game winners. All six are enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield.
Stevens, who came to Bentley in 1986 after six years at Clark University and three at UMass Amherst, recorded 843 of the 1,000 victories during her 32 seasons as the Falcons' head coach, a tenure that has included the 2014 NCAA Division II national championship and 14 regional titles.
Stevens was a three-sport athlete at Bridgewater State competing in basketball, softball and tennis. She captained both the tennis team in 1975 and the basketball team from 1974 to 1976. As the Bears starting point guard, Stevens led the women's basketball team to two MASCAC titles in 1975 and 1976. She graduated from Bridgewater State in 1976 with a health and physical education degree.
Steven was inducted into the Bridgewater State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993. She is also a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame (Class of 2006), the New England Basketball Hall of Fame (Class of 2002) and the Clark University Athletics Hall of Fame (Class of 2006).