The next era of Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball officially began on June 28, 2022 when the Otters selected Sarah Hopkins-Chery to be the eighth coach in program history. Hopkins-Chery joined the Otter staff after spending the previous seven seasons at UC Merced.
Hopkins-Chery also has been charged to lead multiple programs for her native Great Britain. The former England U16, U20, and Senior player was named the Great Britain U20 women's team head coach and also led the Great Britain U23 3X3 team this past summer at the FIBA 3X3 Nations League in Szolnok, Hungary, and Katowice, Poland.
Hopkins-Chery enters her third season at the helm of the Otters. During her tenure, Sarah Shaw and Mikayla Mabie have garnered all-conference recognition. Shaw finished her career as just the fourth player in program history to record over 500 points and 500 rebounds.
UC Merced went 103-66 (.609) record in seven seasons with Hopkins-Chery at the Bobcat helm, including a 57-17 mark (.770) in California Pacific Conference play. Longtime fans will remember the Cal-Pac as the Otters' conference home before they joined the CCAA in 2004.
Hopkins-Chery led the Bobcats to winning records in her final six seasons, including an 18-8 mark and a 10-0 record in Cal Pac play during the 2021-22 season, when Merced finished fifth in the nation by allowing just 52.5 points per game.
Her teams averaged 15 wins per season, including a school-record 23 victory in 2018-19. They qualified for the postseason seven times, including NAIA Championship Tournament berths in 2016, 2017 and 2022.
On the court, Hopkins-Chery has coach three NAIA All-Americans one CalPac Player of the Year, two CalPac Defensive Player of the Year, and two CalPac Freshmen of the Year. Academically, Hopkins-Chery coached seven Daktronic-NAIA Scholar-Athletes, while her UC Merced teams were named an NAIA Scholar-Team five times (2015-16, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 & 2021-22).
As for what fans can expect in Year One, Hopkins-Chery highlights hard work and a striving for excellence as cornerstones of the foundation she plans to build.
"Our program is going to work hard on and off the court; striving for excellence in all that we do," says Hopkins-Chery. "We will compete every play, defend, push the pace and play together. CSUMB has had success in the past and we want to get back to that."
Originally hailing from Essex, England, Hopkins-Chery played basketball and ran cross country and track at Park University. She graduated from Park with a B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in communications and leadership, while also spending three seasons on the women's basketball coaching staff, prior to her time at UC Merced.
