STONY BROOK, N.Y. – For the second year in a row Stony Brook women's basketball head coach Ashley Langford has been selected to the Advancement of Blacks in Sports (ABIS) women's basketball Black head coaches watch list as announced by the organization.
 
Langford joins nine other women's basketball head coaches from around the nation on the watch list. She is joined by Zenarae Antoine (Texas State), Billi Chambers (Iona), Anita Howard (Georgia Southern), Kim McNeill (East Carolina), Tomekia Reed (Jackson State), Alex Simmons (Gardner Webb), Tonya Warren (Northern Iowa), Toyelle Wilson (SMU), and Brittany Young (Austin Peay).
 
Over the course of two seasons on Long Island, Langford has guided the Seawolves to a 40-18 record and has led them to a 17-12 mark during the 2022-23 season. In her second season on the Island, three student-athletes have earned All-CAA honors under her tutelage. Graduate guard Anastasia Warren was named to the All-Conference First Team, sophomore forward Sherese Pittman claimed All-Conference Second Team honors, and senior guard Gigi Gonzalez was tabbed to the Third Team.
 
The trio of Warren, Pittman, and Gonzalez all upped their scoring outputs from a season ago under coach Langford. Warren averaged 12.0 points per game last season and is now averaging 16.7 points per game, the fourth-most in the CAA. Pittman averaged 0.5 points per game last season at JMU and finished the 2022-23 regular season averaging 13.7 points per game at Stony Brook. Lastly, Gonzalez went from 9.6 points per game to 12.7 points per game this season.
 
In addition, Langford has helped usher in a new era of Stony Brook women's basketball as the team embarked on its first season in the CAA this year. In the Seawolves' first season in the CAA, they currently rank second in scoring average (68.3 ppg), second in points scored (1,982), tied for third in three-point field goals made (194), third in offensive rebounds per game (12.8), third in assist to turnover ratio (0.79), fourth in three-pointers made per game (6.7), and are fourth in free-throw percentage (74.0%).
 
Langford has guided Stony Brook to its first-ever CAA Tournament berth this season as the Seawolves are set to face Elon in the second round of the championship on Thursday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m. in Towson, Md.
 
ABIS created the Black Coaches Watch Lists for both men's and women's basketball head coaches and assistant coaches who are deserving and prepared to take the next step in their coaching careers.
 
The lists were created in response to Dr. Richard Lapchick's annual TIDES 2020 Racial & Gender Report Card (RGRC) in college sports that showed that men's and women's head basketball coaches of color were not representative of the population served.
 
For an inside look at the Seawolves women's basketball program, be sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
 
About ABIS:
Founded by Gary Charles, New York's Godfather of Grassroots Basketball fostered a partnership with notable African Americans and social justice activists and allies to launch the Advancement of Blacks in Sports, Inc. (ABIS), on September 2, 2020. ABIS is a non-profit organization with a mission to boldly advocate for a culture of equity and inclusion that results in the advancement of racial, economic, and social justice for Blacks in sports. ABIS members include coaches, administrators, and athletes at all levels of sports, academicians, civil rights attorneys, social justice influencers, diversity, equity and inclusion allies and advocates. For more see: www.weareabis.org.