# Karen Middleton (basketball)

Karen Middleton is an American basketball coach who is currently an assistant coach for the Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team.
On June 21, 2016, she became the 15th head coach of the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse Women's Basketball team.
Prior to her hiring at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, she spent one year as an Associate Head Coach at California State University, Fullerton.
On May 15, 2009, she became the 10th head coach of Western Carolina University Women's Basketball, succeeding Kelly Harper, who was named head coach at NC State University.
Prior to her appointment to Western Carolina, she spent two years as an assistant coach at Illinois.

## Playing career

Middleton attended the University of South Carolina and was a four-year letter winner. She was a team captain, team MVP and a two-time All-Metro Conference selection and finished her career as the fifth-leading scorer in school history with 1,714 points.
Middleton became the best shooter in USC history and holds school records for career 3FG made (317), career 3FG percentage (44.5), season 3FG made (115) and season 3FG percentage (46.9). Middleton led her team to four NCAA Tournaments (including a Sweet 16 appearance),and was selected twice as GTE Academic All-District.
Born in Monroe, N.C., she graduated from McBee High School in McBee, S.C., and was the SC player of the year twice (1986 and '87).

### South Carolina statistics

Source
| Year | Team | GP | Points | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| 1987–88 | South Carolina | 34 | 408 | 42.4% | 43.4% | 70.4% | 2.4 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 12.0 |
| 1988–89 | South Carolina | 30 | 325 | 46.3% | 45.5% | 63.2% | 2.3 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 10.8 |
| 1989–90 | South Carolina | 33 | 437 | 49.8% | 46.9% | 71.4% | 4.5 | 3.2 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 13.2 |
| 1990–91 | South Carolina | 31 | 544 | 42.8% | 43.4% | 82.1% | 4.7 | 3.9 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 17.5 |
| Career | South Carolina | 128 | 1714 | 45.0% | 44.5% | 74.7% | 3.5 | 3.2 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 13.4 |

## Head coaching record

Statistics overview :
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason |
| Western Carolina Catamounts (Southern Conference) (2009–2015) ||||||
| 2009–10 | Western Carolina | 7–23 | 6–14 | T–7th | |
| 2010–11 | Western Carolina | 9–22 | 6–14 | 10th | |
| 2011–12 | Western Carolina | 14–17 | 8–12 | 7th | |
| 2012–13 | Western Carolina | 7–23 | 5–15 | 9th | |
| 2013–14 | Western Carolina | 15–17 | 7–11 | T–7th | |
| 2014–15 | Western Carolina | 11–19 | 3–11 | T–6th | |
| Western Carolina: | Western Carolina: | 63–121 (.342) | 35–77 (.313) | | |
| Wisconsin-La Crosse Eagles (WIAC) (2016–2023) ||||||
| 2016–17 | Wisconsin-La Crosse | 16–11 | 9–5 | T–3rd | |
| 2017–18 | Wisconsin-La Crosse | 16–10 | 9–5 | T–2nd | |
| 2018–19 | Wisconsin-La Crosse | 22–4 | 10–4 | T–2nd | |
| 2019–20 | Wisconsin-La Crosse | 19–8 | 10–4 | T–2nd | NCAA Division III First Round |
| 2020–21 | Wisconsin-La Crosse | 5–5 | 4–4 | 4th | |
| 2021–22 | Wisconsin-La Crosse | 14–12 | 5–8 | 5th | |
| 2022–23 | Wisconsin-La Crosse | 19–7 | 8–6 | T–4th | |
| Wisconsin-La Crosse: | Wisconsin-La Crosse: | 111–57 (.661) | 55–36 (.604) | | |
| Total: | Total: | 174–184 (.486) | | | |
| National champion   Postseason invitational champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion ||||||

## Academic

In 1991, Middleton graduated cum laude with a BA, and also earned an Interdisciplinary Master of Arts in Physical Education in 1993, both from South Carolina.