A new era in Cal State Monterey Bay basketball officially begin June of 2018 as C.J. Pace (Univ. of South Carolina, ’10) became the seventh coach in CSUMB women’s basketball history. She joined the Otter raft after spending the previous three seasons as head coach at East Georgia State College.
Pace replaced Kerri Nakamoto, who resigned in March after five seasons at the Otter helm and is now the head coach at NCAA Division II West Region rival Alaska–Fairbanks.
Pace began her coaching career as an assistant at Chipola College. She then spent a season at Georgia Perimeter College in Atlanta before becoming the assistant coach at Armstrong State (Georgia) during the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons. Her stint in Savannah includes a Peach Belt Conference East Division title and a run to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16 in 2014.
The Bobcats of East Georgia State enjoyed considerable success under Pace. They won 20 games in 2017 and advanced to consecutive GCAA Final Fours in 2017 and 2018. Pace earned 2017 GCAA Coach of the year honors with Bobcat sophomore Shunseere Kent earning Player of the Year accolades.
Before her coaching career, Pace started 24 games for Dawn Staley’s first team at the University of South Carolina where she helped lay the foundation for what has become one of the nation’s premier collegiate programs. She ranked among the SEC’s leading rebounds at 5.9 rebounds per game with finishing fourth on the team at 7.6 points per game in her senior season.
Following her Gamecock career, she played two seasons of professional basketball, averaging 24 ppg for Santarem (Portugal) and 26 ppg for Misonès (Peru).
