Athletics > Women's Basketball > Coach
Meet the Coach
Melissa L. Hodgdon
Head Coach
Melissa L. Hodgdon joined Wheaton's athletic department as the head coach of the women's basketball program prior to the 2003-04 season. She led the Lyons to their first NCAA Tournament in 13 years last winter, helping the team improving its win total for the fifth straight campaign and capture the program's first New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season and tournament titles. Wheaton also set a school record for league wins with a 12-1 mark.
For her efforts last season, Hodgdon was named league coach of the year, the program's first since 1995. In 2006-07, Hodgdon witnessed a first in school history, coaching the Lyons to their inaugural Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament championship game. In addition to league success, as Wheaton went 21-5 in NEWMAC play the last two seasons, the Lyons have compiled better than a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average as a team during those two campaigns.
Prior to her arrival at Wheaton, Hodgdon served as the top assistant for the women's basketball program at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester for four seasons. During her tenure, the Crusaders captured three Patriot League championships in addition to advancing to the NCAA Division I Tournament three times.
At Holy Cross, Hodgdon was responsible for all phases of recruiting while also playing an integral role in the program's scouting, court preparation and bench coaching. In all of her previous coaching engagements, Hodgdon has seen each and every one of her recruited players successfully complete school. She has continued that perfect graduation rate at Wheaton while boasting three academic all-conference members.
Hodgdon came to Holy Cross after two seasons as an assistant coach at Niagara University. Prior to Niagara, she spent three years as the top assistant at the University of New Hampshire. Hodgdon began her coaching career in 1991 at Framingham State College, where she served as an assistant for one year before moving on to Wentworth Institute of Technology as the head coach for two seasons. In her second year at Wentworth, Hodgdon guided the Leopards to the most successful season in the program's nine years to that point.
In addition to her contributions to the collegiate varsity coaching circuit, Hodgdon has served in other capacities, including coaching recreational women's volleyball at New Hampshire in 1994 and working as the equipment and facilities manager at Wentworth. Prior to Wentworth, she was employed at Newton Country Day School from 1991-93.
Hodgdon is a 1991 graduate of Springfield College, where she earned a bachelor's degree in health education with a minor in psychology. While at Niagara, she earned a master's degree in school counseling. A native of East Boothbay, Maine, Hodgdon was a standout women's basketball player for four years at Springfield. Named team MVP and captain twice, she still holds the school's single-game assists record.
The Hodgdon File
| Year | Overall | League | Highlight(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-04 | 9-16 | 4-9 | -- |
| 2004-05 | 11-15 | 6-7 | NEWMAC Tournament |
| 2005-06 | 14-12 | 6-7 | NEWMAC Tournament |
| 2006-07 | 19-11 | 9-4 | ECAC Tournament |
| 2007-08 | 22-7 | 12-1 | NCAA Tourn., NEWMAC Champs |
| Totals | 75-61 | 37-28 | 5 Seasons |
Veronica Jutras
Assistant Coach
Former College of the Holy Cross standout and Patriot League All-Conference selection Veronica Jutras returns to the Wheaton women's basketball staff as a third-year assistant coach this winter.
Jutras brings a strong coaching resume and a comprehensive background in teaching strength and conditioning to Wheaton. In summer 2006, she completed her second stint as assistant strength and conditioning coach at the Be Athletic Sports Performance Camp in Worcester after serving in the same capacity during the summers of 1997-01.
Jutras performed numerous academic and athletic roles from 2003-05 at New Hampton School in New Hampshire, among them serving as a varsity assistant and the junior varsity head coach in the girls basketball program. Jutras was also the director of the physical education program and conducted training sessions with the school's athletic teams. During her time at New Hampton, she twice earned a year-end faculty award.
In 2001-02, Jutras was an assistant coach for Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and helped the Bison record its first NCAA Division I Tournament berth and Patriot League Tournament title. She was also the director of the team's strength and conditioning program. During the previous school year, Jutras was the varsity girls basketball head coach, junior varsity girls soccer head coach and assistant to the athletic director at Fountain Valley School of Colorado in Colorado Springs.
Jutras worked as a coach and counselor at numerous camps from 1997-02, making stops at Bucknell, Holy Cross, Brown University, the University of Richmond, Saint Anselm College and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).
During Jutras' playing days at Holy Cross from 1996-00, the Crusaders won four Patriot League regular season titles and three postseason crowns while making the NCAA Tournament on three occasions. Jutras remains second in program history in each career assists (617) and steals (288), led the conference in assists each of her four years, and is still first in league history in career assists and eighth in steals.
Jutras placed on the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll during each of her four years and was a team captain and all-conference selection as a senior. That same year, she was Holy Cross' nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year and earned the team's first Samantha Vellaccio Award as the player who best exemplifies the mission of Holy Cross, both on and off the court. Jutras also twice earned the Mary Lee Award as the player most committed to improving through strength and conditioning.
Jutras graduated cum laude in 2000 with a degree in English. She also earned her master's degree in exercise science at the University of Connecticut. Jutras is currently employed as a physical education teacher at The Gordon School, a private independent school ranging from nursery school through eighth grade in East Providence, Rhode Island.
Erica Kovach
Assistant Coach
An experienced clinician and a former four-year player at Division I Boston University, Erica Kovach joins the Wheaton staff as an assistant coach for her first season this winter.
In her initial coaching position, Kovach served on Division I Princeton University's staff last winter, but she has been heavily involved with camps since 2003, including working Princeton's camp this past summer. A 2007 college graduate, Kovach worked at her alma mater's basketball camp during the summer following each of her first three years of college.
Kovach also served as a counselor at a Philadelphia camp run by her college coach in 2006 and was involved with a pair of NCAA Youth Education through Sports (YES) Program clinics in Boston that same year. During the summer of 2005, she served a role at camps in Chelsea and in her hometown of Georgetown, Texas. Kovach, who worked her first Georgetown camp in 2003, was involved with an annual holiday reading program for elementary school children in each of her four years of college.
A starter during her final two years at Boston University, Kovach averaged 9.9 points and 5.4 rebounds as an upperclassman, starting all 30 games while serving as a captain her senior season. The Terriers advanced to the America East Tournament championship contest each of her first three years. Kovach, who earned a degree in sociology, completed her career among the top 10 in school history in career three-pointers and free throw percentage.
Kim McCormack
Assistant Coach
Kim McCormack returns to her alma mater as an assistant coach for the 2008-09 season following a one-year stint at Curry College.
While at Curry, which is located in her hometown of Milton, McCormack was charged with recruiting and scouting duties as the lone assistant coach.
A four-year Lyon, McCormack capped her career in 2006-07 by leading the squad to its first league tournament semifinal contest since 1996. That same season, McCormack helped the Blue and White set a school record for conference victories while advancing to its initial Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament title game.
McCormack is the lone player in program history to be among the top 10 in career assists (211) and rebounds (620), and she sits fifth in steals (204). McCormack completed her four years with 873 points in 98 contests. A 2007 graduate, she majored in history.
This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 10/9/08.
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