CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. (AP) - Joanne Boyle is the new women’s basketball coach at Virginia.
Boyle will be introduced Monday as the fourth women’s head coach in the 38-year history of the Cavaliers program, athletic director Craig Littlepage said in a statement released Saturday.
Boyle replaces Hall of Famer Debbie Ryan, who resigned at the end of her 34th season.
Boyle has spent the last six years at California, compiling a 137-64 record and guiding the Golden Bears to four NCAA tournament appearances and two trips to the Women’s NIT. Cal won the WNIT in 2010.
Before Boyle took over, Cal had gone 12 seasons without a winning record.
Boyle also has a history in Virginia, having started her career as a head coach at Richmond, where she guided the Spiders to a 67-29 record in three years and the 2004 NCAA tournament.
In nine seasons as a head coach, Boyle has a 204-93 record.
The former Duke player and assistant coach takes over a program that once was one of the strongest in the women’s game, but has since fallen to the middle of the pack in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Ryan led Virginia to the NCAA tournament 24 times, but only four times in the past eight years. In 2009, her team lost 99-73 to the Golden Bears in the NCAA second round.
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