Shauna Watson enters her fourth season as head women's basketball coach at Earlham College in 2020-21, after being named to the post prior to the start of the 2017-18 campaign. She enters the 2019-20 season with a 23-54 overall record as the Quakers' head coach.
Earlham's 2018-19 season was capped by the program's second Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament appearance in three seasons, after the Quakers won three of their final four regular-season games to secure the no. 6 seed. Included in that stretch was an 82-75 overtime road win over Manchester in the regular-season finale to send Earlham into the post-season. Two members of the squad were recognized with post-season honors: junior Kayla Bowling was tabbed for the Honorable Mention All-HCAC squad, while first year Trinity McClendon was picked for the conference's All-Freshman Team.
The 2018-19 campaign, Watson's second at the helm of Earlham women's basketball, saw continued improvement in the Quakers' overall record by finishing with an 8-17 mark - the squad's best record since the 2014-15 season.
In her first season as head coach, Watson engineered a turnaround for her team of mostly first-year and sophomore players, which resulted in the Quakers going 6-5 down the stretch to finish the regular season with a 7-18 record - the program's best win total in four seasons. All seven victories came in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) play, giving the Quakers a 7-11 conference ledger and a fifth-place finish in the HCAC to earn the program's first postseason berth since 2008.
Watson came to Earlham from Indiana Institute of Technology (Indiana Tech) where she served as an assistant women's basketball coach for two seasons (2015-17). She assisted in managing all aspects of the program while aiding the Warriors to two 20-win campaigns along with an appearance in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Tournament in 2017.
Prior to Indiana Tech, Watson was a student-athlete and a four-year member of the women's basketball program at Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) member Hanover College. A three-year starter for the Panthers, Watson averaged over seven points per game during her junior and senior seasons and garnered a spot on the HCAC's All-Sportsmanship team as a senior. Hanover won at least 20 games all four years Watson was a member of the program as well as qualifying for two NCAA Division III tournaments.
Originally from Fort Wayne, Watson earned a bachelor's degree from Hanover in communications and her master's from Indiana Tech in organizational leadership.
She resides in Richmond.
Updated: April 21, 2020
