Head Coach Shanna Briggs heads into her sixth season as head coach of her alma mater. Briggs has compiled a 121-20 record in her first five seasons and has led the Cowgirls to the NCAA Final Four, the NCAA Elite Eight two times, the NCAA Sweet 16 three times and has won two American Southwest Conference titles and three ASC West Division titles. Last season her team was ranked No. 1 in the nation by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association in team grade point average. It was the fourth time in her first five years the Cowgirls had been named to the WBCA Top 25 in academics. The Cowgirls also led the nation in field goal percentage last season and HSU was third in the nation in scoring. The Cowgirls also ranked eighth in the nation in home attendance, marking the 10th straight year HSU has been in the top 10. Briggs has coached 12 players to All-ASC accolades, including Lyssa Dennard (first team), Laci Walker (second team) and Melissa Contrucci (honorable mention) last season. Dennard was also named the ASC defensive player of the year. In the 2006 Final Four season, Sonya West and Melissa Henley were second-team All-ASC selections last season. Diana Martinez earned All-ASC honors in 2005 for the Cowgirls and Melissa Henley was an All-ASC West Division selection. In 2004, Lauren Harris and Diana Martinez were named All-ASC and Veronica Jones was named ASC Defensive player of the year. Harris was a finalist for the Josten's Trophy as the nation's top student-athlete. She was a Kodak All-American. In 2003, she led the Cowgirls to a No. 1 national ranking, an American Southwest Conference Championship and coached six players to All-ASC honors. She also coached Kendra Anderson to national player of the year honor in 2003s. Briggs was awarded ASC West Division Conference Coach of the Year. Briggs had a record-setting career as a player at Hardin-Simmons from 1992-95. She most recently served as the head girl's basketball coach and Girls Athletic Coordinator at Decatur High School in 2001-02. She was named Wise County Coach of the Year, District 6-3A Coach of the Year and led Decatur to the Regional Tournament. In 2000-01, she led Venus High School to the playoffs and also led the cross country team to the regionals. Briggs began her coaching career as an assistant varsity basketball, junior varsity head basketball, assistant track and freshman volleyball coach at Abilene High School. She was with the Eagles from 1996 to 2000. At Hardin-Simmons, Briggs was a three-time all-conference selection, including first-team honors in 1994 and 1995. She was an honorable mention All-American in 1995 and was three times an Academic All-Conference selection. Her teams won three conference titles at Hardin-Simmons and she played in two NAIA National Tournaments (1994 and 1995). Briggs scored 1,365 points to rank fifth on the career scoring list at Hardin-Simmons and is the school's all-time leader in points scored in a season (576) and 3-pointers made in a game (8), season (71) and career (146). She is second in 3-point percentage making 105-of-242 (.434) shots. She also ranks fifth in career assists (229), fourth in blocked shots (38) and eighth in rebounds (364) in HSU Cowgirl history. She played her final two seasons under her predecessor Julie Goodenough.