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Washington hires Tina Langley as next women’s basketball coach

Rice head coach Tina Langley directs her team during the first half of the championship game against Middle Tennessee in the NCAA Conference USA women's basketball tournament Saturday, March 13, 2021, in Frisco, Texas.  (Associated Press)
By Percy Allen Seattle Times

SEATTLE – Tina Langley, who spent the past six seasons at Rice, has been hired as the next Washington Huskies women’s basketball coach, the school announced Monday.

Rice posted a 126-61 record with the Owls, and her winning percentage of .673 ranks first all-time in program history.

She becomes the 12th coach in the history of the program and follows Jody Wynn, who was fired March 15 after posting a 38-75 record, including 11-58 in the Pac-12, during her four-year tenure.

“I couldn’t be more excited and honored to join the University of Washington and be the next head coach of the women’s basketball team,” Langley said in a statement released by UW. “This is an elite institution that offers an unbelievable experience both academically and athletically and I’m humbled to have the opportunity to compete in the best conference in women’s basketball.”

Since advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2017 under former coach Mike Neighbors, UW fell out of relevancy with Wynn at the helm while finishing no higher than ninth in the Pac-12.

The Huskies tapped Langley, who has a track record of revitalizing downtrodden programs.

In 2015, Langley took over a Rice team that hadn’t had a winning season in four years and posted a 9-21 record prior to her arrival.

After a 9-22 record her first year, the Owls won at least 21 games the next five years while posting a 117-39 (.750) record.

During that span, Rice won the Women’s Basketball Invitational in 2017 and advanced to the second round of the WNIT in 2018.

During the 2018-19 season, the Owls went 28-4 and posted a 16-0 record in Conference USA while winning the regular-season and conference tournament titles for an NCAA appearance in 2019.

Rice finished 21-8 and 16-2 in C-USA in 2019-20 and would have made a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, which was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Last season, the Owls went 23-4 and 12-2 in conference before winning the WNIT.