Women's Basketball - 2007 ECAC Division III New England Champions

A native of Rochester, NY, Cherise Galasso is entering her eighth year in 2007-2008 as head women's basketball coach and associate athletic director at WPI.

The 2006-2007 was a magical season for the WPI women's basketball program.  Galasso's squad equaled the school record for wins (23-7) while earning the program's first NEWMAC regular season championship.  The Engineers reached the NEWMAC Tournament championship game and captured their first ECAC Division III New England title in 20 years.   

Galasso has been successful in elevating WPI's presence on a regional and nation level during her first seven years. In her first season, she molded a team that had finished 6-18 overall and 1-8 in the NEWMAC conference the year prior and raised its record to 11-14 overall and 5-4 in the NEWMAC.  In 2001-2002, WPI finished 17-10 and went on to reach the NEWMAC post-season tourney semifinals with a resounding 20-point upset road victory in the quarters. Then in 2003-2004, WPI finished 16-12, again reaching the NEWMAC semifinals, while also landing an ECAC tournament berth.  Two seasons ago, Galasso guided WPI to a 16-10 overall record and an impressive 9-4 mark in the ultra-competitive NEWMAC.  The Crimson and Gray have won at least one game in the NEWMAC tournament four times in the last six years.

Galasso is also WPI's senior women's administrator and handles a bevy of duties on the administrative level. Some of those duties include the following: compliance, home game management, co-chair of the Student Athlete Advisory Council, and a member of the WPI Steering Committee for Women and Diversity.  In the summer of 2007, Galasso was rewarded with a promotion from assistant athletic director to associate director. 

Prior to WPI, Galasso had served in several capacities at Regis College, located in Weston, MA, over a three-year period. An assistant athletic director her first two years, she was promoted to associate A.D. in '99 at Regis, where she was also the senior women's administrator. Some of her administrative duties included budget management, team travel, home game management, pre-season and summer camp coordination.

In addition, Galasso had doubled as the head women's basketball coach and head women's soccer coach at Regis in her three years there.

Prior to Regis, Galasso was an assistant women's basketball coach at the University of Rochester, her alma mater, from 1994 to 1997. While at Rochester, she was also the Assistant Director of Game Management, Admissions Liaison, and Director of the Varsity Weight Program.

Galasso graduated in 1992 from Rochester with her bachelor of art's degree in psychology. She went on to matriculate at Nazareth College in Rochester, where she earned her master's of science in education in 1994.

As an undergrad at Rochester, Galasso was captain of both her basketball and soccer teams. In soccer as a senior, she was the UAA Conference Player of the Year. She was also a member of the 1987 NCAA Division III National Championship women's soccer team.

In 1992 and 1993, she was a teacher in the Rochester area, first in the Greece Central School District, then in the Hilton Central School District.  From 1992 through 1994, Galasso was an assistant women's soccer coach at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Over the years, Galasso has directed many summer camps, such as the Kara Wolters' Basketball Camp and the Top of the Hoop Basketball Camp for girls. She is currently the camp coordinator for three camps, including one at Worcester Academy with Sherry Levin. She was also at one point the treasurer of the Massachusetts Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (MAIAW) and a former member of the NCAA Division III Atlantic Region Committee for basketball.

The 2007-2008 season will mark the second at WPI for assistant coach Kaitlyn O'Malley. A year ago O'Malley's addition to the bench helped the Crimson and Gray to win the NEWMAC regular season crown, the ECAC Division III New England championship and a school-record tying 23 victories.

O'Malley came to WPI after a year as an assistant at her alma mater Stonehill College. She assisted with game and practice preparation and strategy while focusing on the development of the frontcourt players, including the Northeast 10 Conference Player and Rookie of the Year. O'Malley also served as the community liaison between the team and all area youth groups in 2005-2006. The Skyhawks finished 24-7 in 2005-2006 and reached the second round of the NCAA Division II Championships.

"Kaitlyn brings a wealth of competitive experience, a passion for the game and the type of commitment to the student-athletes that we pride ourselves on at WPI," commented head coach Cherise Galasso. "She will be a great asset to our program."

Prior to coaching at Stonehill, O'Malley spent the 2004-2005 season as an assistant at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, NY. She also served as an assistant softball coach at Russell Sage College during the spring of 2005.

As a player, O'Malley was a key contributor at Stonehill. She was a two-year captain who helped lead her team to a pair of appearances in the NCAA Division II Championships. O'Malley is the all-time leading scorer and rebounder at Franklin High School, where she was the 2000 Female Athlete of the Year and Hockomock League MVP.