Lessons Learned On and Off the Court

About the Speaker

Throughout her career in athletics, Trisha Brown has established herself as one of the premier coaches in the region and ranked 30th among active coaches in Division II with a .683 winning percentage (403-187), having led Stonehill to 13 NCAA tournament appearances and now guides the Skyhawks through its exciting transition to NCAA Division I.

Brown has posted a 416-231 (.643) record over her career at Stonehill, coaching her 500th career game in Stonehill’s 58-55 NE10 Semifinal win over Le Moyne College on March 1, 2018. She became just the second coach in Stonehill women’s basketball history to reach the 400-win mark, joining mentor Paula Sullivan, with Stonehill’s 65-46 win over Southern Connecticut State to cap the 2021-22 regular season, and passing Sullivan in total games coached for the program against Saint Francis University in January 2024. She posted her 300th career win in the Skyhawks 71-64 overtime victory at Franklin Pierce on February 6, 2016, after picking up her 200th career Northeast-10 win with a 63-60 decision over Merrimack on February 4, 2015. She posted a 288-140 (.673) career record in NE10 play. Brown coached her 300th NE10 game at Saint Michael’s College on February 7, 2015, with a 63-56 win, and earned her 250th NE10 win with a 75-65 decision at Southern New Hampshire on December 8, 2019.

Brown guided the Skyhawks to 13 NCAA Tournament appearances as well as six NE10 championships and a spot in the NE10 Tournament all 20 seasons prior to joining the Northeast Conference. Stonehill captured its third NCAA Regional Championship in program history in 2018, advancing to the Division II Elite Eight for the first time since 1995. Stonehill also reached the East Regional championship in 2003, 2009 and 2015 under Brown’s leadership, while advancing to the NE10 championship game four times, including two of the last three seasons, winning the title in 2008 and 2020.

Stonehill has never failed to reach a postseason it has been eligible for over the entirety of the program’s rich history, holding the status as the only program to qualify for each of the first 40 NE10 Tournaments in that Conference’s history prior to elevating the program, and Brown has kept that tradition with  21 postseason appearances under her watch - including the Skyhawks first trip to the NEC Tournament in their first season of eligibility in 2024.

Brown coached her first WBCA All-American at Stonehill in 2015-16 with senior Tori Faieta being named to the 2015 Coaches’ All-America Team, with 2017-18 NE10 Player of the Year Kelly Martin becoming Brown’s second All-American, also producing ten WBCA honorable mention All-Americans over her 22 seasons. She has coached one NE10 Player of the Year, three NE10 Rookies of the Year and an NE10 Defensive Player of the Year with 31 All-Conference selections, including Emily Bramanti, ‘23 the Skyhawks first All-NEC selection at the Division I level in 2022-23, and 30 All-Northeast-10 selections, along with eight NE10 All-Rookie honorees.

Brown earned Northeast-10 Conference Coach of the Year honors for the fifth time in her career in 2020, also collecting US Marine Corps/WBCA Division II East Region Coach of the Year honors for the fourth time. She guided the Stonehill to a 23-5 record, including 16-3 in the NE10 to win the Northeast Division for the third time over a six year span, on its way to the sixth NE10 Tournament title in program history (and second under her watch) winning its final 12 games of the year heading into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed, before the season was cut short to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brown led Stonehill to a 29-4 overall record in 2017-18, including a program-best 20-1 mark in the Northeast-10 to win the Conference’s Northeast Division Championship, and reaching the NE10 title game before earning the program’s 24th NCAA Tournament bid in program history. The Skyhawks earned the No. 1 seed in the East Region and captured its third regional championship in program history with a 71-61 win over the University of the Sciences in front of a packed Merkert Gymnasium to reach the NCAA Division II Elite Eight for the third time in program history.

Before she arrived at Stonehill, Brown helped lead Harvard to five Ivy League championship titles as part of legendary Kathy Delaney-Smith’s staff. She was responsible for assisting with all aspects of the Crimson program and additionally served four seasons as Harvard’s recruiting coordinator. Brown helped guide Harvard to a school-record 23 victories during the 1997-98 season, as the Crimson became the first No. 16 seed in NCAA Tournament history (men’s or women’s) to upset a No. 1 seed when they ended Stanford’s 59-game home win streak.

A 1987 Harvard graduate and two-sport student-athlete, Brown was one of Delaney-Smith’s first recruits and captained the Crimson’s first Ivy League championship team in 1985-86, a squad that posted a 20-7 mark. A two-time team co-captain, she received Harvard’s Most Improved Award in 1985 and was named to Harvard’s Silver Anniversary Team for softball in 1988-89 as part of the celebration of 25 years of women’s athletics in the Ivy League.

This event is sponsored by the Martin Institute for Law & Society.