Paula Buscher
Current position
TitleHead coach
Biographical details
Born (1963-04-04) April 4, 1963
Peoria, Illinois
Playing career
1981–1983Illinois Central CC
1983–1985Southwest Missouri State
Position(s)Point guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1986–1988Illinois State (asst.)
1988–1997Nebraska–Omaha (asst.)
1997–1998Mankato State
1998–2000Nebraska Omaha
2000–2012Bradley
2013–2021SIU Edwardsville

Paula Jean Buscher (born April 4, 1963)[1] is an American college basketball coach, previously the women's head coach at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in Edwardsville, Illinois. The SIU Edwardsville Cougars are members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) and compete in the NCAA's Division I.[2]

Biography

A native of Peoria, Illinois, Buscher played basketball and softball at Peoria's Richwoods High School, with her basketball team finishing second at the 1981 IHSA Class AA state Tournament. She then played both sports at Illinois Central College (ICC) under the legendary coach Lorene Ramsey, a member of both the National Softball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. At ICC, Buscher's teams finished fifth and third in the NJCAA national tournament, and won the 1982 NJCAA softball national championship. She was inducted into the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame in 1987 as a member of that championship softball team;[3] she was additionally inducted as an individual in 2015.[4]

Buscher then attended Missouri State University, once more playing both basketball and softball for the Missouri State Bears. She earned her bachelor's degree from Missouri State in 1986. She then moved on to Illinois State University, spending two seasons as graduate assistant coach of the Illinois State Redbirds women's basketball team and earning her Master's degree in athletic administration in 1988.[5]

Coaching career

After earning her Master's degree, Buscher served as women's basketball assistant coach at the NCAA Division II University of Nebraska at Omaha (Omaha) from 1988 to 1997. After leaving Omaha, Buscher took her first job as head coach at Mankato State. Following the previous season's 7-29 record, Mankato State under Buscher improved to 17-10, remaining one of the greatest turnarounds in NCAA Division II history. After only one season at Mankato State, Buscher returned to Omaha in 1998 as the schools women's basketball head coach.

Following a successful second season at Omaha, she was hired as women's basketball head coach at Division I Bradley University in her hometown of Peoria. In twelve seasons at Bradley, Buscher raised the Braves women's program from their previous status as perennial doormats in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) into a contender in the MVC. Her 2006-10 squad got the program's first win in the MVC tournament. The 2008-09 team set the school women's record for most wins with 21. The 2009-10 received the program's first bid to a post-season tournament and won the first post-season victory in the Women's Basketball Invitational (MBI). The 2011-12 team also advanced to the second round of the MBI. Her 167 wins is the most for any Bradley women's coach.

In June 2012, Buscher was named the fifth head coach of the SIU Edwardsville Cougars women's basketball team.[5]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Mankato State Mavericks[6] (North Central Conference (Div. II)) (1997–1998)
1997–98 Mankato State 17–108–106th
Mankato State: 17–108–10
Nebraska Omaha Mavericks[6] (North Central Conference (Div. II)) (1998–2000)
1998–99 UNO 11–166–127th
1999–2000 UNO 15–127–117th
Nebraska Omaha: 26–2813–23
Bradley Braves[7] (Missouri Valley Conference) (2000–2012)
2000–01 Bradley 10–175–138th
2001–02 Bradley 16–127–117th
2002–03 Bradley 13–159–96th
2003–04 Bradley 9–197–11t–6th
2004–05 Bradley 15–138–10t–6th
2005–06 Bradley 9–195–13t–9th
2006–07 Bradley 12–197–117th
2007–08 Bradley 12–186–128th
2008–09 Bradley 21–1011–74th
2009–10 Bradley 17–1412–6t–3rdWBI Quarterfinals
2010–11 Bradley 15–167–118th
2011–12 Bradley 18–167–118thWBI Quarterfinals
Bradley: 167–18891–125
SIU Edwardsville Cougars[8] (Ohio Valley Conference) (2012–present)
2012–13 SIUE 16–159–73rd (West)
2013–14 SIU Edwardsville 11–197–9T–2rd (West)
2014–15 SIU Edwardsville 19–1213–32nd
2015–16 SIU Edwardsville 18–1312–43rd
2016–17 SIU Edwardsville 14–179–73rd
2017–18 SIU Edwardsville 17–1513–53rdWBI 1st round
SIU Edwardsville: 95 – 91 (.511)63 – 35 (.643)
Total:305 – 317 (.490)

      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

References

  1. ↑ "NCAA® Career Statistics".
  2. ↑ "Paula Buscher Named SIUE Women's Basketball Head Coach". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  3. ↑ "1982 ICC SOFTBALL TEAM". GPSHOF. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  4. ↑ "2014 (sic) Individual Inductees". GPSHOF. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Paula Buscher". SIU Edwardsville. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Women's Basketball – Record Book" (PDF). North Central Conference. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  7. ↑ "2012–13 Women's Basketball Media Guide". Missouri Valley Conference. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  8. ↑ "SIUE Women's Basketball Coaching Records". Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
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