Old Dominion announced Nikki McCray-Penson as the seventh women’s basketball coach of the Lady Monarchs on Wednesday. She replaces former Lady Monarchs coach Karen Barefoot, left to coach UNC-Wilmington earlier this month.
McCray-Penson served as a Western Kentucky women’s basketball assistant under former coach Mary Taylor-Cowles from 2006-08. As the head recruiting coordinator and assistant coach, she helped lead the Lady Toppers to a 49-17 record, which included a WNIT semifinal appearance in 2006-07 and a Sun Belt Tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament in 2007-08.
McCray-Penson, who spent 11 years in the WNBA and played collegiately at the University of Tennessee, spent the last nine years as an assistant at South Carolina.