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ALAN EADS enters his sixth season as the head coach of the Lady Miner basketball program after leading UMR to a second straight 17-win season and berth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament during the 2006-07 season.

With wins in six of its last seven regular season games, the Lady Miners made it back to the conference tournament for a second straight year last winter. The final record of 17-11 matched the mark posted by the 2005-06 squad which was the best mark for a UMR team since it went 21-7 in the 1995-96 campaign.

In addition, UMR won a game at a conference tournament for the first time since 1991 when it beat Lewis in the opening round of the 2006 Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament before falling in the semifinal round to third-ranked Drury.

UMR has finished in third place in the GLVC Western Division in each of the last two seasons with records of 10-9 in league play.

The Lady Miners moved forward during the 2004-05 season, posting a 9-17 record in their final year in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. In addition, the Lady Miners came away with their first season sweep of a conference opponent since the 1999-00 season and won an exhibition game over Division I Saint Louis along the way. UMR won its first five games of the season, its best start since the 1995-96 campaign.

The Lady Miners were 4-23 in the 2003-04 season in a year in which six freshmen saw significant playing time and while playing in a conference where four teams qualified for the NCAA Division II regionals. However, the Lady Miners did pull off one of their biggest victories in recent years with an upset win over a Quincy team that reached the NCAA Division II Elite Eight and lost in the quarterfinal round by a point to the eventual national champions.

UMR finished 5-20 in Eads' first year as head coach, but the Lady Miners improved by three games in conference play and was in contention for one of the final playoff spots until the final week. The improvement also showed in the results, as UMR had losses by three points to Emporia State and by six on the road to Missouri Western, two teams that reached the NCAA regional tournaments.

Eads came to UMR after serving as an assistant coach at Southeast Missouri State University for the previous eight seasons. He helped lead Southeast to a 16-12 overall record and 8-8 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference during the 2001-02 season, as the Otahkians finished fifth in the OVC standings. Southeast finished fourth in the OVC the previous year and won 19 games overall as recently as the 1998-99 season.

While at Southeast, Eads served as the team's chief recruiter and worked primarily with the post players and the team defense – a unit which was ranked third in the OVC this season after being the top defensive squad in the conference in the three previous years. Eads believes that defense is where the Lady Miners can build their foundation for future success.

Eads has also built an impressive resume as a head coach, leading Moberly Area Community College to a record of 199-37 over a span of eight years from 1986-94. He took the Lady Greyhounds to the NJCAA national tournament on five occasions, including a third place finish in 1986-87 and fifth place showings in 1987-88 and 1993-94.

Moberly had two 30-win seasons under Eads and also had seasons with 29, 28 and 26 wins during his tenure.

He was named as the Region XVI "Coach of the Year" on five occasions and also led the Lady Greyhounds to five region titles, all of which eventually led to berths in the national tournament. Moberly was the region runner-up on three other occasions and won the regular season title in all eight seasons Eads spent there.

During that time Eads coached eight players who earned All-America honors, including four that were named to the first team. He was also chosen after the 1990-91 season to serve as an assistant coach for the South team in the United States Olympic Festival in Los Angeles, Calif.; that team went on to win the gold medal during the 1991 festival.

Eads also served as the head coach at Moberly High School from 1979-83, where he led his teams to two district titles and two trips to the Missouri state tournament.

Eads is originally from Trenton, Mo., and earned his bachelor's degree in education in 1973 from the University of Missouri-Columbia; he also received a master's degree in education from there in 1982.

KERI HESSEL begins her second season as an assistant coach at UMR after spending the two previous years on the coaching staff as a student assistant and then a graduate assistant coach following her days as a Lady Miner player. Hessel has moved into a full-time role as a coach prior to the 2006-07 season.

“We were fortunate to have Keri here and in this position,” said Lady Miner head coach Alan Eads. “She has a good basketball background as she played and her father is a high school coach.” Eads added. “I think her background here at the university helps her a great deal in assisting our program."

Hessel, a native of Kearney, Mo., spent three years as a player for the Lady Miners, appearing in 45 games in that span. She played as a point guard for UMR and recorded 22 assists in those three seasons before becoming a student assistant coach in her senior year.

Upon earning her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from UMR in 2005, Hessel served as the team’s graduate assistant during the 2005-06 season when the Lady Miners finished with a 17-11 record.

As a high school player at Kearney High School, Hessel scored more than 1,000 points and set the school record for career assists.

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