STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Stony Brook University women's basketball head coach Ashley Langford has stepped down to accept the head coaching position at Tulane University.
 
"When we made the decision to hire Ashley, we had every confidence that she would lead our women's basketball program to new heights. She more than delivered by winning 69 games over her three years and taking us to the top of the CAA in just our second year in the league. Her impact on our women transcended the basketball court, which is ultimately what will define her legacy at Stony Brook. Tulane is getting a winner as a coach and leader, and we wish her every success moving forward," said Director of Athletics Shawn Heilbron. 

The Seawolves will conduct a national search to find the 11th head coach in the program's history.
 
Over three seasons as head coach, Langford has guided the Seawolves to a stellar 69-24 record and two national postseason berths. Langford has posted the highest winning percentage (.742) of any head coach in program history and the team averaged 23 wins per season under her watch.
 
The 2023-24 season was one of the most successful seasons in program history as Langford led the Seawolves to an overall record of 28-5 and a 16-2 mark in CAA play. Langford earned her first CAA Coach of the Year honor and guided the program to their first-ever CAA Regular Season Championship. 
 
Langford and the Seawolves made history this season as they defeated James Madison, 81-70, on March 21, to secure the program's first-ever national postseason win in the inaugural WBIT. The team's 28 wins tied the program record which was first set in the 2019-20 season.

A trio of student-athletes garnered CAA honors under Langford's tutelage this season. Graduate guard Gigi Gonzalez was named CAA Player of the Year and was selected to the All-CAA First Team, while junior forward Sherese Pittman and graduate forward Khari Clark were tabbed to the All-CAA Second Team.

Earlier in the year, Langford became the fastest coach in program history to reach 50 wins and became one of 10 coaches in the nation to be selected to the 2024 Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year award midseason watch list. Additionally, she was selected to the ABIS watch list for the third time in her career.
 
In her second year at the helm in 2022-23, Langford guided the program into a new era as the team embarked on its first season in the CAA. The Seawolves finished the year 18-13, 11-7 CAA, earning the No. 6 seed in the CAA Tournament where they defeated Elon in the first round to pick up their first-ever win in the tournament.
 
Under coach Langford's watch, three student-athletes were tabbed to the All-CAA Team and helped them have career seasons on the Island in 2022-23. Anastasia Warren was named to the All-Conference First Team, Pittman claimed All-Conference Second Team honors, and Gonzalez was selected to the Third Team.
 
The trio of Warren, Pittman, and Gonzalez all upped their scoring outputs from the season prior under Langford. Warren averaged 12.0 points per game in 2021-22 and finished at 16.4 points per game, the fourth-most in the CAA. Pittman averaged 0.5 points per game in 2021-22 at JMU and finished the 2022-23 season averaging 13.7 points per game at Stony Brook. Lastly, Gonzalez went from 9.6 points per game to 12.5 points per game.
 
In her first season at Stony Brook in 2021-22, Langford had an immediate impact as Stony Brook's offensive output increased by nearly nine points per game and seven student-athletes increased their scoring from the season prior.
 
The squad finished with a 23-6, 14-4 record and earned an at-large berth into the WNIT. The 23 wins in 2021-22 were tied for the fifth-most in a season in program history and were the most by a first-year head coach in program history.
 
Stony Brook received votes in the WBCA Top 25 and were ranked as high as No. 7 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 during their stellar 2021-22 campaign. The Seawolves also picked up marquee wins over two Power Five opponents in Washington State (69-62) and Rutgers (53-44). The wins were the third and fourth over Power Five opponents in program history. India Pagan and Warren both claimed All-Conference honors.
 
Under coach Langford, the Seawolves maintained a 3.14 GPA or better over her three seasons and the team earned WBCA Academic Top 25 Special Mention following the 2021-22 season.

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