Kristina Danella returns for her third season as the Caldwell University women’s basketball head coach. She has a career record of 58-30 as a collegiate coach and 40-20 as head coach at Caldwell entering the 2016-17 season.
Danella has guided her teams to back-to-back appearance in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championship semifinals in her first two seasons leading the Cougars. Last season, she led Caldwell to a 21-9 record and 15-4 record in the CACC North Division. The Cougars finished second in the division and defeated USciences in the CACC Championship Quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals.
In her first season in 2014-15, Danella led the program to an overall record of 19-11 and 15-4 record in the conference, earning the North #1 seed in the. She guided the Cougars to a Quarterfinals overtime victory against Goldey Beacom College and advanced to the semifinals of the CACC Tournament.
Following her playing career at Division I Marist College, Danella went to Urbana University as an assistant coach in July of 2013. When the head coach left unexpectedly in November, Danella was elevated to interim head coach. She proceeded to lead the Blue Knights to their most victories since the 1998-99 season, compiling an 18-10 record and finishing fourth in the Mountain East Conference with a 14-8 mark in league play. In February 2014, Urbana was ranked eighth in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region rankings, the first regional ranking in program history. Another first was achieved when senior guard DeVonyea Johnson was named to the All-Atlantic Region First Team at the end of the season.
As a player, Danella played for two seasons at Marist, earning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Sixth Player of the Year honors as a senior in 2012-13. That year, she led the MAAC in three-point shooting (.410) and was 12th nationally in free throw shooting (.887) while averaging 9.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Playing for Head Coach Brian Giorgis, Danella helped the Red Foxes win two MAAC regular-season and tournament crowns while playing in two NCAA Division I Tournaments.
Prior to her time at Marist, Danella started her collegiate career at the University of Massachusetts and was named to the Atlantic 10 Conference’s All-Rookie Team in 2008-09. She tied the school record for three-pointers in a season that year with 58, and was selected the A-10 Rookie of the Week four times. Over her collegiate career, Danella combined to score 1,126 points at both UMass and Marist.
Danella starred at Red Bank Catholic High School, leaving as the school’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder with 1,773 points and 1,156 rebounds. A three-time all-state first team honoree, she was a two-time Shore Conference Player of the Year and the 2007 Asbury Park Press Player of the Year.
Danella graduated from Marist in 2013 with a degree in psychology and special education.
