Program History

Women's Basketball at De Anza College: 1974-Present

De Anza College began Intercollegiate Women's Basketball competition in 1974. Sharon Chatman, our first Women's Basketball Coach, started a winning tradition for the Lady Dons. Our Women's Basketball program has continued to be one of the most successful women’s programs in the state of California. Coach Chatman’s (1974-76) teams went 61-3 the first two years, claiming two conference titles and two state championships. Following those two winning seasons, Coach Chatman was hired at San Jose State.

Coach Debi Schafer (1976-86) took over the Lady Dons team and didn't miss a beat. Coach Schafer compiled an impressive 254 wins against just 51 losses, an astonishing 84% winning percentage. De Anza became recognized as a Northern California power.

From 1987-2003, Head Coach Mike Gervasoni added to the program's already impressive history of success. Under his leadership, the Lady Dons maintained an amazing record of 360-164, including 8 conference championships.

During the 2004-05 season, current Head Coach, Arden Kragalott, took over the helm of a Lady Dons team that had struggled the previous season. Since then, Coach Kragalott has turned the program back around. With a 23-8 record in the 2006-07 season, the Lady Dons finished a strong, second place in league and earned a spot in the Nor Cal playoffs. 

The 2006-07 season maintained a trend towards success as the Lady Dons finished a solid second place in league, earned a spot in the Nor Cal playoffs and finished the season ranked 11th in Northern California.

During the 2007-08 season, Kragalott and the Lady Dons proved to be even more successful, as they finished the season with a 23-9 overall record, ranked in the top 8 (Nor Cal Elite 8 Tournament), ranked in the top 16th overall (State), and undefeated Coast Conference (South) Champions with a 12-0 record.  These great achievements also earned Kragalott Coach of the Year honors.

Coach Kragalott and her coaching staff led the stalwart 2010-2011 Lady Dons to an outstanding 23-7 overall record, which included a solid second place finish in Coast Conference (South) play.  This success continued into the post season, with the Lady Dons making an impressive showing in the Elite 8 of the Nor Cal Playoffs.

The strong 2010-2011 season carried over into the following year.  The 2011-2012 Lady Dons were able to reach the first round of Nor Cal playoffs.

The De Anza College Women's Basketball program has more conference titles, four-year transfer players, and state playoff teams, than any other Northern California community college.

Overall Record: 819-341

Conferences Titles: BACAWA—3, Golden Gate—6, Coast Conference—9

All-Conference Players: 98

Conference MVP: BACAWA—3, Golden Gate—5, Coast Conference—7

State Tournament Appearances: (Elite 8) 5; (State Tournament Runner-up 1985).

All-Region Players: 20

All-State Players: 12

Four-Year Transfer Players: 93

Dean's List: 230 (GPA 3.0)

Scholar Athletes: 34 (13 players with 4.0 GPA; 29 above 3.5 GPA)