Aug. 17, 2010
Courtney Schermerhorn, a native of Lowell, Mass., was named to the UMass Lowell women’s basketball coaching staff Tuesday, announced Head Coach Kathy O’Neil.
A former standout at Lowell H.S. (2002-06) and Bryant University (2006-10), Schermerhorn replaces former assistant Gia Colombo.
Schermerhorn begins her position Saturday, Aug. 28. She will oversee the team’s video coordination and exchange, social media, scouting and travel arrangements as well as the team’s fundraising and community service efforts and summer basketball camp.
“Courtney brings a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm to our program,” said O’Neil, who is entering her 26th season. “Being a product of Lowell High School will certainly help her with our community outreach projects. Courtney came to our basketball camps as a youngster so it is terrific to welcome her back as an assistant. I am excited to work with her.”
UMass Lowell is fresh off a 16-11 overall record and a 12-10 clip in the Northeast-10 Conference (sixth) in 2009-10. The River Hawks return six veterans and three starters from last year.
“Being back in the NE-10 and being back home were big factors for me,” Schermerhorn said. “Kathy has done a great job with the program. We are going to have a young team, so it’s going to be a great opportunity to help mold these players, especially with my experience playing in the NE-10 and playing Division I basketball.”
Schermerhorn recently capped a four-year career at Bryant, over which the University was in its final two years of Division II and the Northeast-10 Conference and first years in Division I.
Over the course of her career, Schermerhorn played in 89 games (62 starts) and posted career averages of 5.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.
As a freshman, she started 16 of 29 games with averages of 3.4 points and 1.9 rebounds while shooting .394 from 3-point range, helping the Bulldogs to a 19-9 record and a 14-8 conference clip.
Schermerhorn started 23 of 32 games as a sophomore with averages of 7.1 points, 1.8 assists and 3.8 rebounds while ranking among NE-10 leaders with a .337 clip from 3-point territory. The Bulldogs posted a 20-12 record (12-10 NE-10, fifth) and advanced to the NE-10 Tournament championship game and the NCAA Tournament first round.
At the end of the season, Schermerhorn was named to the NE-10 Women’s Basketball All-Academic Team.
In Bryant’s first year of Division I, Schermerhorn started 28 of 29 games and chipped in 5.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game as the Bulldogs went 11-18 as an independent.
Last year, Bryant went 13-16 overall and 10-8 in its first season in the NEC (sixth) as Schermerhorn chipped in 3.1 points and 2.3 rebounds in 28 games (11 starts). Similar to her sophomore season, she was cited to the NEC Women’s Basketball All-Academic Team.
A four-year player at Lowell H.S. for coach Mike Crowley, Schermerhorn was a three-time Merrimack Valley Conference (MVC) all-star who graduated as LHS’s career leader in scoring (1,169 points) and assists. She led the Red Raiders to the MIAA Division I North Championship in 2006 and was named the LHS Female Athlete of the Year and The Sun Player of the Year.
Schermerhorn graduated cum laude from Bryant in May with a degree in business marketing. She lives in Lowell.
