Few programs make the transition from worst to first as quickly as Cal State Monterey Bay women’s basketball made the turnaround. But then, few teams have a rising star like Renee Jimenez for a head coach.
Although Jimenez will be the first to say that there is work yet to be done, no one can deny that the Otter women’s basketball program has accomplished much in her first four seasons. Jimenez already has one CCAA regular season championship, one CCAA Tournament title and three NCAA Tournament appearances under her belt. Her 97–46 (.678) record makes her the winningest coach (by percentage) of any sport in Otter Athletics history.
Jimenez took over an Otter program that won just three games the season before her arrival and immediately turned in an 11–win season in 2008–09. She proved she was more than a one–hit wonder by leading the Otters to their best record to date (18–9) and their first CCAA Tournament appearance in 2009–10.
But even that success proved to be but an appetizer to 2010–11’s wonderful main course that brought the Otters 27 wins, an national ranking as high as No. 19, their first CCAA regular season title and their first NCAA Tournament bid. A 68-59 victory over No. 13 Dixie State got the Otters to the semifinals, where their remarkable run ended. With that end, the 2011 CCAA Coach of the Year merely whetted the appetites of Otter fans for future success.
|
YEAR |
SCHOOL |
OVERALL |
CCAA |
CCAA FINISH • POSTSEASON |
|
2009 |
CSUMB |
11-15 |
6-14 |
9th • None |
|
2010 |
CSUMB |
18-9 |
14-8 |
4th • CCAA Tournament |
|
2011 |
CSUMB |
27-4 |
20-2 |
1st • NCAA Regional Semifinals |
|
2012 |
CSUMB |
21-9 |
15-7 |
2nd • NCAA Regionals |
|
2013 |
CSUMB |
20-9 |
15-7 |
3rd • NCAA Regional Semifinals |
|
TOTAL |
5+ SEAONS |
97-46 |
70-38 |
|
While the 2010–11 season ranks as the best season by the numbers in Otter basketball history, Jimenez may have done her finest coaching in 2011–12. Playing through a spate of injuries that caused Otter starters to miss a combined 46 games, she led CSUMB to its second consecutive 20–win season, a second place regular season finish and the 2012 CCAA Tournament title.
Jimenez’s success is built on the fundamental principles of recruiting hungry players then training them to out–work and out–think their opposition. Nowhere has the success of that philosophy shone more brightly than on the defensive end of the floor, where the Otters were peerless in 2010–11. CSUMB won the NCAA Division II statistical championship for scoring defense, allowing a stingy 51.2 points per game. Included in that was a CCAA record–setting performance in which they allowed Cal State East Bay only 21 points in a 51–21 Otter win on Feb. 3, 2011.
During Jimenez’s brief tenure her student–athletes have earned 12 All-CCAA awards, one CCAA Newcomer of the Year award (Nikki Beckamn in 2013) and five CCAA All-Tournament team selections, including 2012 tourney MVP Brittani Jefferson. Several of her players also have picked up academic honors, including
ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII and CCAA All–Academic recognition.
Jimenez got her first taste of rebuilding a program as an assistant for Beth Burns at San Diego State. There, she helped turn around an Aztec program that won just three games in 2005-06 to into a team that finished 18-13 in 2007-08 and narrowly missed an NCAA tournament bid. The Aztec's improvement that year also included a spot in the Mountain West Conference Championship.
Prior to joining the SDSU coaching staff, Jimenez spent one year at Stanford University, serving as an intern for head coach Tara VanDerveer, helping the Cardinal women’s basketball program reach its 10th NCAA Elite Eight. While there she served as the team's video coordinator among other coaching duties.
Jimenez played three seasons at San Francisco State from 2001-04, finishing her career as the Gators’ all-time leader in three-point field goals. The two–year team captain also set two school season records including most three-pointers made (62).
A 2004 graduate of San Francisco State with a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies and kinesiology, Jimenez also competed for one year at Ventura College for head coach Ned Mircetic, helping the Pirates to the 2001 California junior college championship.
Last Updated: 3/25/13
