Amy Senefelder enters her fourth season as the Hilbert College women’s basketball head coach at the start of the 2020-21 academic year.
In just three short seasons, she set the bar high for the athletics department having led her Hawks to three consecutive AMCC title games, and back-to-back AMCC Championships and NCAA Tournament appearances since her arrival on campus October 13, 2017.
The 2019-20 Hawks made their third consecutive appearance in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference championship game, after finishing the regular season with a 19-6 record and a second seed in the post-season tournament. Additionally, the women's basketball team earned the 2020 AMCC Peak Performer Award after leading the conference with a team cumulative gpa of 3.579.
The Hawks earned a 74-64 victory over No. 3 D’Youville College in the semifinal game before they slipped to No. 1 La Roche University (88-69) in the championship and closed their year with the program’s third 20-win season.
Senior Emily Gawlak was named the AMCC Player of the Year, earned a spot on the First Team All-Conference, and became Hilbert’s All-Time Scoring Leader (1409) under Senefelder’s leadership. She also garnered regional recognition slotting a spot in the D3hoops.com All-Great Lakes Second Team. Taylor Corts also capped off a fantastic four-year career under Senefelder’s guidance. The Third Team All-Conference selection, closed as the Hawks’ All-Time Free Throw percentage, 3-point FGM and 3-point FGA leader while finishing behind Gawlak in scoring (1286).
The 2018-19 team went 22-6 and finished the season with a league-best 15-3 record. The Hawks, who lost the tie-breaker and dropped to No. 2 seed in the AMCC playoffs, swept both their opponents - Pitt-Bradford, (67-47) and Penn State Behrend (64-54), earning their second consecutive automatic bid to the NCAA National Tournament. Hilbert slipped to No. 6 ranked Messiah College (71-60) capping off the most decorated season in women's Division III basketball.
For the first time in the program's history, four women's basketball players garnered All-Conference honors led by senior Katelyn Proy's Defensive Player of the Year & Second Team selection. A trio of juniors were recognized, highlighted by Ashley Repine's First Team honor, and Emily Gawlak and Taylor Corts Second Team placement.
In 2017-18 Senefelder's leadership turned things around for the program. After dropping their first three games at the start of the season, the Hawks closed the fall semester on an 8-1 run, suffering a 58-56 road loss just before the holiday break. Senefelder kept her new team in focus after they returned in January and led them to a 13-2 AMCC tally, setting new program win records, both in overall (19) and league (16).
The 2017-18 Hawks earned the program's second consecutive appearance in the AMCC post season tourney, this time as the No. 1 seed and tourney host.
Hilbert beat No. 4 Penn State Behrend (56-47) in the semis before they posted a 24-point victory over No. 2 Mt. Aloysius in the title game (76-52). Senefelder's team garnered Hilbert College's first AMCC team championship and the athletic department's very first automatic bid to the Division III National Tournament.
Hilbert suffered a 61-42 loss at The College of New Jersey March 2 and finished the season with a 21-7 overall record.
Senefelder was named the 2017-18 AMCC Coach of the Year for the program's impressive performance and turn-around under her leadership. Three of her players earned AMCC post-seasons nods, led by senior guard Kelsi Ebert's First Team selection which was supported by a pair of sophomores Third Team honors - guard Emily Gawlak and forward Ashley Repine.
Besides the league's Coach of the Year honor, Senefelder was given as the Hilbert College Sal Buscaglia Coach of the Year Award at the conclusion of the 2017-18 academic year.
Senefelder came to Hilbert with an impressive coaching back ground which spanned the NCAA Division II and III levels as well as junior college levels. Her previous experiences prepared her well as she had to manage the quick turn-around in leading Hilbert's program. She brought a good blend of coaching, teaching and developing competitive student-athletes, and with her back ground at the junior college level, she came prepared to grind-it-out with recruiting.
Prior to her arrival at Hilbert, Senefelder served as the head coach of the NJCAA Division II Mercyhurst University North East program for two seasons and was turning the corner with the largest incoming recruiting class for the 2017-18 season.
Senefelder was an assistant coach at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks from the August of 2012 until June 2014. In addition to the on-court athletic development and the academic monitoring and guidance she provided the Nanooks, she managed all facets of the Division II recruitment process while signing high-quality student-athletes to attend college in an extremely challenging area of the country.
Senefelder, a native of Knox, IN, held a series of two-year stops after graduating from Trine University. She served as a graduate assistant coach at Franklin Pierce University (NH) while earning her master's degree. She was exposed to national and international recruiting processes which led to the program's back-to-back NCAA Division II National Championship Title game appearances. Senefelder had the privilege of working with a 2010 WNBA draft pick/2012 Olympian Johannah Leedham who was also a two-time WBCA Division II Player of the Year.
Her next step was her first assistant coaching job at Ancilla College (IN) where she gained valuable experience in all facets of her first junior college program. While working with the players on the court, she also severed as a strength and conditioning coach and assisted the athletics department in their annual fund raising events.
Senefelder moved to Muskingum University (OH) and accepted the assistant women's basketball / head women's golf coach positions and served as a University Lecturer in the Department of Health and PE until July 2012.
Senefelder graduated in 2005 from Trine University (IN) with a Bachelor of Science degree in sports management. She earned her Masters of Business Administration, Leadership in 2009 from Franklin Pierce University.
