Linda Cimino returns for her eighth season as coach of the Caldwell College women’s basketball team, having built the Cougars into a contender in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference and the East Region. The revival of the program is evident in Cimino’s past four seasons, as the Cougars have a record of 72-41 (.637) during that span while also being ranked both regionally and nationally for the first time since Caldwell became an NCAA Division II member in 2002.
After taking over a program that was 29-54 over the previous three seasons, Cimino has compiled a 110-88 record in her seven years and is three wins away from becoming the program’s all-time winningest coach.
“I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish so far, and it’s a credit to the players we’ve had in our program,” Cimino said. “We’ve worked hard to get to where we are now, and we are hungry and focused on getting better every day to achieve our goals of winning a conference championship and making the NCAA Regional Tournament.”
Last year Cimino and her team came one step away from their goals, advancing to the CACC Tournament finals before losing to Holy Family. That loss snapped a school-record 15-game winning streak, which started with an upset of the nationally-ranked Tigers and resulted in a CACC North Division title. Caldwell finished 19-12 overall and 15-4 in conference play.
The Cougars had a breakout season in 2011-12 with a 21-6 campaign, matching the school record for victories and advancing to the semifinals of the CACC Tournament for the first time since 2003. Caldwell also tied for the CACC North Division title with a league record of 16-3. The victory over Felician in the quarterfinals of the CACC Tournament was the team’s first win in the conference tourney since 2003. This success did not go unnoticed, as Caldwell was included in the East Region rankings for the first time in the program’s history.
In 2011-12, the Cougars returned to the CACC Tournament semifinals, finishing second in the North and beating Philadelphia in the quarterfinals en route to a 17-11 record.
After seeing small improvements during her first season, Cimino led the Cougars to an 18-12 record and the program’s first berth in the ECAC Tournament in 2007-08. The team also returned to the CACC Tournament after not qualifying in 2007. The 18-win campaign ranked Caldwell among the most improved teams in the nation. In 2008-09, the Cougars finished third in the CACC North and advanced to the conference tournament for the second season in a row after compiling a record of 10-18 overall and an 8-9 mark in league play.
The 2009-10 season saw the Cougars go 15-12 and tie for second in the CACC North with an 11-8 conference mark. Caldwell also was included in the national rankings, receiving votes early in the season after upsetting ninth-ranked Stonehill.
Cimino has demonstrated her ability to recruit talented players in building the program into a contender. Kirsty Leedham became the first women’s basketball player at Caldwell since joining Division II to be named all-Region, making the Daktronics all-East Region second team in 2010. Torey Jones also earned all-Region honors in both 2011 and 2012 while making the all-CACC first team three times. Cimino’s recruiting classes also yielded three consecutive CACC Rookies of the Year in Kaitlyn Lambert (2009), Jones (2010) and Jeanette Anderson (2011).
Now that the program has been revitalized, Cimino recognizes the program’s potential to be competitive in the CACC and the East Region. “Because of the administration, the facilities, the strong academics and the players we have here now, Caldwell College is very attractive to recruits,” Cimino said. “We’ve been successful in expanding our recruiting efforts to target players from other areas, including Rhode Island, New York and Massachusetts, as well as international players.”
Cimino, who coached for five years at the high school and junior college level, came to Caldwell in 2006 after serving as an assistant women’s basketball coach at Adelphi University, her alma mater, the previous season. Cimino began coaching at Adelphi in August 2005 as an assistant coach under Kelley Watts, helping the Panthers to an overall record of 15-13 and a third-place finish in the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference. Prior to her stint at Adelphi, Cimino was the varsity girls’ basketball coach for three seasons at Calhoun High School in Merrick, N.Y., where she also coached volleyball for four years. Cimino began her coaching career in 2001 as the head women’s basketball coach at Queensborough Community College in Bayside, N.Y.
A member of Adelphi’s basketball squad from 1997 to 2000, Cimino still appears on the Panthers’ all-time lists for free throw percentage and three-point field goals. She also holds the school record for most three-pointers in a game with six. While at Adelphi, Cimino built a reputation of being a clutch performer in late-game situations. In her first collegiate game, she hit the game-winning basket at the buzzer to defeat the University of New Haven in overtime. Cimino continues to play in the urban professional league in Manhattan.
Cimino graduated from Adelphi in 2001 with a Bachelor’s degree in Health and Physical Education, and earned her Master’s degree in Health Education from Adelphi in 2004. She also received a Master’s degree in Administration from Touro College in May of 2006. She was a health teacher for five years, including four years at Calhoun High School, where she also was an Adaptive Physical Education teacher.
Cimino is an American Heart Association CPR/AED instructor and a member of both the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and the Basketball Coaches Association of New York. She also served a three-year term on the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee for the women’s basketball East Region. She currently serves on the women’s soccer Regional Advisory Committee and is a member of the NCAA Division II USA Today Coaches Poll Committee. Cimino also represents the region on the WBCA National Coach of the Year Award Committee.
Off the basketball court, Cimino has made an impact on campus as an associate athletic director and Senior Woman Administrator. She coordinates the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), which is active on campus and in the community. In each of the past six years, Caldwell’s SAAC raised over $1,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Through SAAC, Cimino also organizes the community engagement efforts for each team. She also has worked with campus ministry to assist with Midnight Run, which brings food to homeless people in New York City.
Cimino’s potential as an administrator was recognized in 2011, when she was selected to participate in the Women and Minorities Mentor Program conducted by the NCAA and Division II Athletic Directors Association.
“My role as an administrator has allowed me to be involved in many aspects of campus life beyond coaching basketball,” Cimino said. “In my time at Caldwell, I have experienced so many things, from attending conference and NCAA Tournaments with our other teams, to working with students on campus, to traveling to France with our men’s basketball team. I’m appreciative of the opportunity to be a part of an athletic department like Caldwell’s and I thank Mark Corino and the College administration.”
A native of Lincoln, R.I., Cimino was all-state in both basketball and softball at North Smithfield High School.
