# Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Coach of the Year

The Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Coach of the Year is a basketball award given to head coaches in the Northeast Conference (NEC). The award is granted to the head coach voted as the most successful coach of the season by the league’s coaches. The award is named in honor of Brenda Reilly, a teacher, sports administrator and three-sport coach in a career of almost three decades at Central Connecticut State University.
The award was first presented following the 1986–87 season, marking the inaugural year of NEC-sponsored women's basketball. Kevin Jones of St. Francis Brooklyn was the inaugural recipient. The program with the most awards is Robert Morris, whose father-son duo of Sal and Charlie Buscaglia have garnered all of the Colonials' seven awards, but Robert Morris left the NEC for the Horizon League after the 2019–20 season. Among current NEC members, Saint Francis has the most awards with five. Sacred Heart, also with five awards, left after the 2023–24 season for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

## Winners

| Season | Coach | School | Conference Record | Conference Standing | Overall Record | Postseason |
| 1986–87 | Kevin Jones | St. Francis (NY) | 9–7 | 5th | 14–15 | |
| 1987–88 | Mickey McGlade | Monmouth | | | | |
| 1988–89 | Gela Mikalauskas | Wagner | | | | |
| 1989–90 | Bill Sheahan | Mount St. Mary's | | | | |
| 1990–91 | Susan DeKalb | Monmouth | | | | |
| 1991–92 | Bill Sheahan (2) | Mount St. Mary's | | | | |
| 1992–93 | Sharon Beverly | Fairleigh Dickinson | 14–4 | T–1st | 15–12 | |
| 1993–94 | Bill Sheahan (3) | Mount St. Mary's | | | | |
| 1994–95 | Jenny Przekwas | Saint Francis (PA) | | | | |
| 1995–96 | Bill Sheahan (4) | Mount St. Mary's | | | | |
| 1996–97 | Jenny Przekwas (2) | Saint Francis (PA) | | | | |
| 1997–98 | Irma Garcia | St. Francis (NY) | | 5th | 11–16 | |
| 1998–99 | Vanessa Blair | Mount St. Mary's | | | | |
| 1999–2000 | Patty Delehanty | LIU Brooklyn | | | | |
| 2000–01 | Tricia Sacca-Fabbri | Quinnipiac | 12–6 | | 16–13 | |
| 2001–02 | Myndi Hill | Saint Francis (PA) | | | | |
| 2002–03 | Myndi Hill (2) | Saint Francis (PA) | | | | |
| 2003–04 | Ed Swanson | Sacred Heart | | | | |
| 2004–05 | Sal Buscaglia | Robert Morris | | | | |
| 2005–06 | Tricia Fabbri (2) | Quinnipiac | 15–3 | | 22–8 | |
| 2006–07 | Stephanie Gaitley | LIU Brooklyn | | | | |
| 2007–08 | Ed Swanson (2) | Sacred Heart | | | | |
| 2008–09 | Ed Swanson (3) | Sacred Heart | | | 22–4 | |
| 2009–10 | Sal Buscaglia (2) | Robert Morris | | | | |
| 2010–11 | Susan Robinson Fruchtl | Saint Francis (PA) | | | | |
| 2011–12 | Ed Swanson (4) | Sacred Heart | 15–3 | 1st | 25–8 | NEC Champions NCAA first round |
| 2012–13 | Tricia Fabbri (3) | Quinnipiac | 18–0 | 1st | 30–3 | NEC Champions NCAA first round |
| 2013–14 | Sal Buscaglia (3) | Robert Morris | 14–4 | 1st | 21–12 | NEC Champions NCAA first round |
| 2014–15 | Beryl Piper | Central Connecticut | 14–4 | T–1st | 19–12 | NEC Semifinals |
| 2015–16 | Jessica Mannetti | Sacred Heart | 16–2 | 1st | 20–13 | NEC Finals WNIT first round |
| 2016–17 | Charlie Buscaglia | Robert Morris | 14–4 | 1st | 21–10 | NEC Champions NCAA first round |
| 2017–18 | Charlie Buscaglia (2) | Robert Morris | 16–2 | 1st | 25–8 | NEC Finals WNIT first round |
| 2018–19 | Charlie Buscaglia (3) | Robert Morris | 16–2 | 1st | 22–10 | NEC Champions NCAA first round |
| 2019–20 | Charlie Buscaglia (4) | Robert Morris | 17–1 | 1st | 23–7 | NEC Champions |
| 2020–21 | Maria Marchesano | Mount St. Mary's | 14–4 | 1st | 17–6 | NEC Champions NCAA first round |
| 2021–22 | Angelika Szumilo | Fairleigh Dickinson | 15–3 | 1st | 19–12 | NEC Semifinals WNIT first round |
| 2022–23 | Angelika Szumilo (2) | Fairleigh Dickinson | 14–2 | 1st | 24–8 | NEC Finals WNIT first round |
| 2023–24 | Mary Grimes | Le Moyne | 14–2 | 2nd | 18–12 | NEC Finals WNIT first round |

## Winners by school

| School | Winners | Years |
| Robert Morris | 7 | 2005, 2010, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 |
| Mount St. Mary's | 6 | 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2021 |
| Saint Francis (PA) | 5 | 1995, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2011 |
| Sacred Heart | 5 | 2004, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2016 |
| Fairleigh Dickinson | 3 | 1993, 2022, 2023 |
| Quinnipiac | 3 | 2001, 2006, 2013 |
| St. Francis Brooklyn | 2 | 1987, 1998 |
| LIU | 2 | 2000, 2007 |
| Monmouth | 2 | 1988, 1991 |
| Central Connecticut | 1 | 2015 |
| Le Moyne | 1 | 2024 |
| Wagner | 1 | 1989 |
| Bryant | 0 | — |
| Chicago State | 0 | — |
| Mercyhurst | 0 | — |
| Merrimack | 0 | — |
* ↑ Robert Morris left the NEC for the Horizon League in 2020.
* ↑ Mount St. Mary's left the NEC for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in 2022.
* 1 2 Merrimack and Sacred Heart left the NEC for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in 2024.
* 1 2 Monmouth and Quinnipiac left the NEC for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in 2013. Monmouth is now a member of the Coastal Athletic Association, while Quinnipiac remains in the MAAC.
* ↑ St. Francis Brooklyn shut down its athletic program after the 2022–23 season.
* ↑ From 1981 to 2019, Long Island University was represented in the Northeast Conference by its Brooklyn campus, known for athletic purposes as "Long Island" through the 2012–13 season and "LIU Brooklyn" from 2013–14 forward. After the 2018–19 season, LIU merged the athletic programs of its Brooklyn and Post campuses into a single program, now competing as the LIU Sharks, that inherited the NCAA Division I and Northeast Conference memberships of the Brooklyn campus.
* ↑ Bryant left the NEC for the America East Conference in 2022.