Wagner garners 200th career coaching victory

(Davenport, Iowa) - Waubonsee Community College Women’s Basketball Head Coach Dana Wagner collected her 200th career coaching victory as the Lady Chiefs hung on to defeat the St. Ambrose University Junior Varsity 73-68 on Sunday, Dec. 8.  Waubonsee improved to 9-3 overall on the season as they won their fourth in a row. Sophomore forward Ashley Wilk led the Lady Chiefs in scoring with 17 points. Center Emma Darby added 14 points, LaDesha Nelson chipped in with 13 and Bailey Klaas tallied a dozen points in the win.

This season is Wagner’s 15th year overall leading Waubonsee’s basketball program. Under her guidance 22 players have been named All-Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) First Teamers. The Lady Chiefs have finished second in the ISCC three times during her tenure, including two years ago when they won a school-record 11 straight games. Wagner also directed Waubonsee’s volleyball program for two seasons and was the softball head coach for 11 years, helping guide the 2007 team to the ISCC title and a then record-setting 33 win season. Additionally, Wagner was named the ISCC’s Female Coach of the Year for 2005-06.  

A 1992 graduate of Kaneland High School, where she was an All-Little Seven Conference selection in basketball, Wagner went on to star for Aurora University. She was a three-time NCAA Division III All-American, was selected the Northern Illinois Intercollegiate Conference (NIIC) Player of the Year three times, and was named Aurora’s Female Athlete of the Year an unprecedented three times. The Spartans’ all-time leading scorer with 1,693 points, Wagner’s number 40 jersey was retired upon the conclusion of her last game and she was inducted into Aurora’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009.   

In addition to her coaching duties, Wagner works as Waubonsee’s Assistant Athletic Manager. She also runs Waubonsee’s intramural programs, handles all of the school’s on-campus athletic events and serves as facilities coordinator for the college’s gymnasium, Erickson Hall.