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The winningest coach in SDSU women's basketball history, Beth Burns recently finished her third season of her second stint on Montezuma Mesa. This past year, Burns led the Aztecs to their most successful season since 1996-97 and within an eyelash of the NCAA tournament. The sixth seed in the Mountain West Conference tournament, SDSU defeated third-seeded Wyoming (66-54) and second-seeded TCU (82-80) before falling to fourth-seeded New Mexico, 62-59, in the championship game. San Diego State went 18-13 overall and 7-9 in MWC play to finish in a tie for fifth with Brigham Young. The Aztecs' seven league wins and fifth-place showing is their best-ever in the history of the MWC. Burns helped SDSU lead the league in assists per game (15.71), steals per game (12.61) and turnover margin (+5.81), and rank second with 4.35 blocks per game. Burns coached three players to all-conference selections, the program's most in MWC history, as sophomore Jene Morris earned second-team accolades, while freshmen Allison Duffy and Paris Johnson each received honorable mention honors. Burns has also helped the program find success off the court. This past spring, seven players were honored at the department's annual scholar-athlete awards banquet, which recognizes student-athletes with at least a 3.0 cumulative or 3.2 semester GPA. The previous season, Burns led the Aztecs to their most wins since 2000-01, finishing as the 11th-most improved team in NCAA Division I and recording the biggest turnaround in back-to-back seasons in Mountain West Conference history. Burns helped point guard Quenese Davis lead the league and rank first nationally among freshmen in assists per game, while center Desiree Johnson was first in the MWC in blocked shots per game for the second year in a row. Burns has also helped the program find success in both the classroom and on the recruiting trail. In the spring of 2007, 10 players were recognized at the department's annual scholar-athlete awards banquet, which honors student-athletes with at least a 3.0 cumulative or 3.2 semester GPA. Among the 10 were Shanna Demus, who received the school's Academic Initiative Medal for her persistent commitment toward meeting her academic goals, and Kate Eveland, who became a member of the elite Phi Beta Kappa honor society. On the recruiting trail, Burns and her staff have signed each of the last three San Diego Union-Tribune section players of the year, including two-time winner, freshman Paris Johnson. In her first stint as head coach from 1989-97, Burns took the SDSU women's basketball program full circle, going from 7-23 her first year to 23-7 in her final campaign. During her eight seasons, she compiled a 151-83 record and a 64.5 winning percentage, the best in school history. The Aztecs went to the NCAAs on four occasions (1993, 1994, 1995, 1997), advancing to the second round in 1994. Burns' teams dominated the Western Athletic Conference from 1994-97, capturing a pair of tournament championships and three regular-season titles. The 1993-94 team set a school record for victories (26), while the 1994-95 squad was a perfect 14-0 in league play. The Aztecs continued their success the following two years by going 20-8 and 23-7, respectively. Burns coached 13 first team all-conference picks in her time at SDSU, including a pair of WAC players of the year in Kieishsha Garnes (1991) and Christina Murguia (1995). Guard Falisha Wright became just the second Aztec women's basketball player to be named an All-American, picking up honorable mention accolades in 1993 and 1994. She finished her career as the school's all-time assists leader and was inducted into the Aztec Hall of Fame in 2002. The postseason honors were not just limited to her players, as Burns was a three-time WAC coach of the year (1994, 1995, 1997) and was the district coach of the year in 1995. SDSU also had seven conference all-academic selections, headlined by three-time winner Olivia DiCamilli. Burns departed San Diego State in 1997 to take the head women's basketball position at Ohio State, where she first started her collegiate coaching career, while attending graduate school. In five seasons with the Buckeyes, Burns notched an 82-65 overall record, highlighted by a WNIT title in 2001 and a trip to the NCAA tournament in 1999. Two OSU players earned first team all-Big Ten honors during her stay in Columbus and LaToya Turner was named conference freshman of the year in 2000. The Buckeyes also excelled in the classroom as 14 players received Big Ten all-academic accolades. Burns returned to San Diego from Ohio in 2002, as the owner and operator of her own fitness and basketball instruction business, BBHoops, before serving as the strength and conditioning coach for the women's basketball program at Stanford in 2004-05. The Cardinal finished the regular season ranked first in the nation, advanced to the Elite Eight and won the Pac-10 regular season and championship titles. Burns' collegiate coaching career started at Ohio State as a graduate assistant from 1979-81, under current Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer. She then spent two seasons as an assistant coach at East Carolina (1981-83), helping the Lady Pirates to a No. 17 national ranking, before moving to Colorado (1983-88) as an assistant under the recently retired Ceal Barry. Prior to taking her first head coaching job at San Diego State, Burns was an assistant coach at North Carolina State when the Wolfpack advanced to the Sweet 16 in 1989. Burns has a bachelor's degree in health and physical education from Ohio Wesleyan University (1979), where she was the school's all-time leading rebounder and is a member of the athletic hall of fame. She also has a master's of arts degree in physical education from Ohio State (1981). The Beth Burns File Hometown:
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