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Cherise Galasso |
Head Women's Basketball Coach cgalasso@wpi.edu 508-831-5063 |
A native of Rochester, NY, Cherise Galasso is beginning her 10th season in 2009-2010 as head women's basketball coach and associate athletic director at WPI.
Galasso has brought the Engineer program to new heights. Her teams captured NEWMAC championships and ECAC tournament titles in 2007 and 2009, winning 23 and 24 games respectively. Last year's mark of 24-6 established a new program best for wins and the program, which has won a NEWMAC tournament game in six of the last eight years, has appeared in four straight semifinals including a championship appearance in 2007.
In the beginning of her tenure at WPI, she was very successful in elevating WPI's presence on a regional and national level. In Galasso's 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.
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, 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.
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Kate Lynch |
Assistant Women's Basketball Coach katelynch@wpi.edu 508-831-6622 |
The 2009-2010 campaign will mark the first season for Kate Lynch
as an assistant coach for Cherise Galasso and the WPI Women's
Basketball program. Lynch replaces Jessica Baker, who was on the
Engineer bench during the 2008-2009 campaign.
Lynch joins the WPI staff after a season as the Director of
Basketball Operations at Division I Fairfield. As a key member of
the Stags staff, Lynch handled team travel, assisted with
recruiting efforts and managed day-to-day administrative efforts in
the women's basketball office. At Fairfield she worked under the
tutelage of her collegiate coach Joe Frager and helped the team to
a 18-13 record, including a road win at nationally ranked
Marist.
"We are very excited to have Kate join our staff and feel she will
be a tremendous asset to our program," said Galasso. "Her
incredible success as a student-athlete, combined with her work
ethic and great passion for the game made her standout amongst a
strong candidate pool. Kate is a first class individual who truly
reflects the core values we espouse here at WPI. I have no doubt
she will make an immediate impact and help continue the tradition
of success we have established within WPI Women's Basketball."
Lynch enjoyed tremendous success as a four-year player at Southern
Connecticut State. She graduated as the Owls' all-time leader in
points, (1,779), field goals made (650) and free throw percentage
(.803). In arguably her finest collegiate moment, Lynch earned
Tournament Most Valuable Player honors as she help the Owls win the
2007 NCAA Division II championship as a junior.
"I am very excited to have the opportunity to work with Coach
Galasso," stated Lynch. " She has had a lot of success at WPI and
has turned it into a winning program. I look forward to working at
WPI and helping Coach Galasso and the team maintain the winning
tradition."
While at Southern Connecticut, Lynch earned numerous awards,
including being named a First Team All-American during her junior
and senior seasons and being selected Northeast 10 Conference
Player of the Year and First Team ECAC All-Star both years. In
2008, the two-time captain received the New Haven Tap-Off Club
Female Athlete Player of the Year award.
Lynch, who hails from Rumford, RI, earned a bachelor's degree in
exercise science from SCSU. She holds the two-best single season
scoring totals in program history, tallying 647 as a junior and 632
as a senior and will be inducted into the New England Basketball
Hall of Fame this fall.
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Megan Puopolo |
Assistant Women's Basketball Coach |
Megan Puopolo begins her second season as an assistant coach for Cherise Galasso and the WPI Women's Basketball program in 2009-2010.
Puopolo, a Wallingford, CT native, joined Galasso's staff last season after a standout career at Suffolk University. The 2003 graduate was a four-year letter winner in both basketball and softball, and served as an assistant for the Suffolk softball program in 2004.
Before coming to WPI, Puopolo had coached for the Mass Wildcats AAU basketball program and worked basketball camps at Brandeis and Hoop Mountain. She was active with player development programs in Dedham, MA and Raynham, MA.
Puopolo is also a teacher at Melican Middle School in
Northborough, MA. She received her Master's degree from Lesley
University in Cambridge, MA.