Olivier resigns as women’s basketball coach

After 15 years as coach of the UCLA women’s basketball team, Kathy Olivier has resigned and decided to move to a position in the UCLA Athletic Department, Senior Associate Athletic Director Petrina Long announced today.

Olivier was popular within the department and known to run a solid program, but she struggled to produce dominant teams. UCLA finished in the top four of the Pac-10 in seven of the past 11 seasons under Olivier but won only one conference title during that stretch.

Olivier’s decision comes just two days after the Bruins suffered a lopsided, 78-45 defeat at the hands of No. 6 Stanford in the semifinals of the Pac-10 Tournament. The loss ended UCLA’s season and eliminated the Bruins from NCAA Tournament contention. It is the third time the Bruins have missed the tournament in the past four seasons.

“This was one of the hardest decisions of my life,” Olivier said in a statement released by the Athletic Department on Tuesday afternoon.

“I have been offered the opportunity to take the next step in my career by moving into administration, and I think the timing is right.”

Olivier’s teams went 232-208 in her 15 seasons as coach. Her Bruin team won the Pac-10 Tournament in 2006. Olivier also coached UCLA to a conference title and an Elite Eight appearance in the 1999 season.

Several of Olivier’s former players have reached the WNBA, including Nikki Blue, Lisa Willis and Noelle Quinn.

The current Bruin roster includes a stellar class of freshmen Olivier recruited: Regina Rogers, Darxia Morris, Doreena Campbell, Nina Earl, Candice Brown and Christina Nzekwe.

Those freshmen played a prominent role this season. The inexperienced team showed flashes of brilliance in matchups against No. 3 Tennessee and No. 5 Maryland. The Bruins also shocked then-No. 2 ranked Stanford 69-56 at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 4.

But the Bruins’ inconsistent play plagued their tournament chances. They lost six of seven games in nonconference play, including slip-ups against Idaho State and San Diego. The team finished with just a 16-15 overall record and lost twice to USC in the regular season.

The UCLA press release said that the Athletic Department will begin a national search for Olivier’s replacement immediately.

A full story will run in Thursday’s print edition of the Daily Bruin.

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