Weber State University Athletics
Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- bethannord@weber.edu
The 2017-18 season was the seventh year for Bethann Shapiro Ord as the head coach of the Weber State women's basketball team. Ord was named head coach of the Wildcats in May 2011 after a long career as an assistant coach. She is the fifth head coach in Weber State women's basketball history.
She has twice led the Wildcats to 20-win seasons, including the 2017-18 season where WSU finished 21-11 and advanced to the second round of the WBI Tournament. The team was led by senior Larryn Brooks who was named the Big Sky Newcomer of the Year and earned first-team All-Big Sky honors.
Ord has twice led Weber State to postseason play. In the 2015-16 season, the Wildcats to one of it's most successful years in Weber State history. The Wildcats finished the year with a 23-12 overall record which was the most wins in a single season in WSU history. For the first time since 1983, the Wildcats were invited to a postseason tournament going to the Women's Basketball Invitational. The Wildcats were the runner ups in the WBI and fell in the championship game in double overtime.
Ord helped the Wildcats earn several top 20 national rankings in 2015-16. The Wildcats were ranked No. 17 in the country in steals per game averaging 10.5 a game and No. 9 in total steals with 366 on the season. WSU also ranked No. 20 that year in three point field goals made with 267 which is the most three pointers made in a single season in school history.
Ord came to WSU with 22 years of coaching experience. Before coming to Weber State she spent four seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Louisville. During her tenure, the Cardinals advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament three times, including the national title game in 2009. At Louisville, Ord was instrumental in the Cardinals signing three top 15 recruiting classes and one in the top five. She also helped bring two high school All-Americans to Louisville.
Prior to Louisville, Ord was an assistant coach at the University of Colorado for two seasons. While with the Buffaloes, she was instrumental in bringing the No. 29 recruiting class in the nation in 2005-06.
She spent six seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Tulsa where she was also the recruiting coordinator.
Prior to Tulsa, Ord spent one season as an assistant at the University of Dayton and one season at Auburn University, where she was an assistant and director of basketball operations. She spent four years as an assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh from 1992-96.
She began her coaching career at Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y. where she spent one season as an assistant coach, followed by two seasons as an assistant at Wagner College.
A native of Rochester, Ord earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 1989. She was a three-year letterwinner and starting point guard for the Retrievers. She earned a Master's degree in Elementary Education from Wagner College in 1992.
She married Jim Ord in August 2003.
