Ferris State women’s basketball head coach Colleen Lamoreaux-Tate leads the Lady Bulldogs to the conference tournament in her first year, and she has helped lead Ferris to its 14th GLIAC tournament berth with her passion and emotion while at the helm.
The Bulldogs (13-12) appointed Lamoreaux-Tate to the position of head coach prior to the 2012-13 season with hopes she could continue winning ways, and she did just that.
Ferris started the season winning 10 of its first 15 regular season games, which included a six-game winning streak.
Even though the season did not end the way it started—as Ferris lost its last three contests which included the final game of the year against rival Grand Valley prior to playoffs—Lamoreaux-Tate was still proud of the way her team played through the adversity the season handed them.
“We have had a lot of things happen this year that helped us form a bond together,” Lamoreaux-Tate said. “They have the heart that you hope for as a coach and after the game, [against Grand Valley] I went into a huddle with them and just said that I was proud of them.”
Throughout her first season, Lamoreaux-Tate formed a connection with the team much like that of a family, as every player looked at her as if she were one of their own.
“She’s been like a sister to all of us,” Ferris junior guard/forward Ashley Rando said. “We have cried together and we have laughed together, and you can see her passion and love for the game and us girls every day.”
Lamoreaux-Tate came to Ferris after coaching high school basketball for 26 years, replacing former head coach Tracey Dorow and becoming only the sixth head coach in the 38-year history of Bulldog women’s basketball.
With her first GLIAC tournament ahead of her, Lamoreaux-Tate has faith in her team performing well and making a good run at a conference championship.
“What you want, as a coach, is to go into a tournament with heart,” Lamoreaux-Tate said. “I am encouraged by them going into the tournament, and as a coach that is all you can ask for.”
Ferris will travel to Detroit to battle Wayne State University in the GLIAC tournament quarter-final round Wednesday, March 6, at the Matthaei Center.