The 2015-16 season is the ninth for Lisa Carlsen as head women's basketball coach at Lewis University.
Carlsen owns a 148-89 record (.624 win-percentage) at the helm of Flyers.
Carlsen's 2014-15 squad will go down as the best in school history. The team finished the campaign 31-3. Lewis defeated Ashland in the Midwest Regional Championship for the program's first berth in the NCAA Elite Eight. She picked up WBCA National Coach of the Year and GLVC Coach of the Year honors following the campaign. Lewis set a school record with a 23 consecutive victories.
She guided the Flyers to GLVC Championships in 2011 and 2013 and NCAA Tournament berths in 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Carlsen’s squads have been at their best in the postseason as shown by her 12-5 record in the GLVC Tournament.
Carlsen was named GLVC Coach of the Year in 2013 and WBCA Region 4 Coach of the Year in 2014. The 2012-13 and 2013-14 teams combined for a 47 victories, tying for a program-best win total over a consecutive year span.
The 2013-14 campaign was highlighted by the emergence of Mariyah Brawner-Henley. The sophomore post player took home GLVC Player of the Year and WBCA All-America Honorable Mention accolades after averaging a league-best 18.2 points. Her 12.1 rebounds per game ranked fourth in the nation. She helped the Flyers defeat Missouri-St. Louis in the NCAA Tournament for the Flyers’ second NCAA victory in program history.
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The Flyers won the 2012-13 GLVC Championship with a 24-6 record. It was the nation’s best turnaround after a youthful Lewis squad won eight games a year earlier. Jess Reinhart averaged 14.4 points and 7.2 rebounds as she picked up GLVC Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors. Labrenthia Murdock, Sam Rinehart and Reinhart were each named All-GLVC.
Carlsen’s first championship came in 2010-11. The Flyers won the title by upsetting four higher seeds in the GLVC Tournament. Lewis' postseason run was highlighted by the play of seniors Jenny Turpel and Kady Currin. Turpel earned Tournament MVP and All-Tournament honors after scoring 25 points in the championship game. Currin was also named to the All-Tournament Team thanks playing all 165 minutes of the GLVC Tournament. Turpel graduated in 2010 as Lewis’ fourth leading scorer with 1,819 points. She finished second in career blocks (123) and third in rebounds (805).
Carlsen's squads have found equal success off the court, earning the 2009-10 and 2010-11 Spread Your Wings Championship. Spread Your Wings is Lewis' intra-department competition measuring each team's participation in the five commitment areas (academic, athletic, career development, personal development and service) of the NCAA/CHAMPS Lifeskills program.
Carlsen came to Lewis after spending three seasons as associate head coach for the women's basketball program at Winona State. The Warriors enjoyed drastic improvement over that span, increasing their win total and conference standing each year and emerging as one of the top teams in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
Prior to her time at Winona State, Carlsen worked for six seasons at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. She joined the women's basketball staff as an assistant coach in 1998 and was promoted to head coach in 2000. She guided the Mavericks to postseason play in 2003, posting the program's best finish since the 1991-92 season. The Mavericks also maintained a 3.46 team GPA during Carlsen's tenure. Carlsen's career coaching record at Lewis and Nebraska-Omaha is 153-160.
Carlsen's coaching career began in 1994 when she coached College of St Mary's (Neb.) softball team for four seasons. She also served in the same capacity for one year at Wayne State College (Neb.), compiling a career record of 120-51 as a softball coach.
Carlsen played professional basketball from 1992-95 for the Nebraska Express of the Women's Basketball Association. She was named team captain and earned a spot on the league's all-star team in 1995.
A 1992 graduate of Northwest Missouri State, Carlsen was a four-time all-conference basketball selection and an All-America scholar athlete. She also was an all-conference and all-region softball player. As a senior, she was named the 1992 Champion NCAA Female Athlete of the Year. She earned a master's degree from UNO in 1994.
Carlsen is originally from Earling, Iowa. She is married and has four children: Jacob, Zachary, Sam and Alexis and lives in Romeoville.
