BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Western Washington University head women’s basketball coach Carmen Dolfo has announced the addition of Kayla Bernsen and Amanda Lance to the coaching staff for the upcoming 2018-19 season.
Bernsen will serve as a graduate assistant coach while Lance will serve as a student assistant coach for the Vikings alongside Dolfo and head assistant coach Stacey Turrell.
Bernsen, a native of Moses Lake, Washington, has spent time during the past two years playing professionally overseas after her WWU career concluded with the 2015-16 season. She played for Lemvig Basket in the Danish Professional League and also played for Den Helder in the Netherlands.
At WWU, Bernsen appeared in a school-record-tying 122 games with 59 starts over her career from 2011-12 to 2015-16, scoring 1,021 career points. She ranks 3rd in program history and 6th in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history with 203 career blocked shots and concluded her career as one of four players in conference history with 1,000 points, 650 rebounds and 200 blocked shots. She was named the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year as well as a First Team All-GNAC selection during her senior season, and over her career the Vikings reached the NCAA tournament three times with a Final Four appearance in 2012-13.
“We are so excited about having Kayla back in our program,” Dolfo said. “Her passion and work ethic will have such a great influence on our team.”
Lance, a native of Buckley, Washington, concluded her three-year WWU career last season appearing in 69 games with 6 starts for the Vikings from 2015-16 to 2017-18. She appeared in 20 games during the 2016-17 season as the Vikings reached the NCAA Division II West Regional semifinal round before playing in 23 games with 4 starts during the 2017-18 season. Lance also helped the Vikings to record the 1,000th win in program history during the 2017-18 campaign as the Vikings became the 15th team in women’s collegiate basketball history, according to available records, to reach the milestone.
“We are also so excited about Amanda’s new role,” Dolfo said. “She is bright and such a hard worker. We are very excited about her new role.”
The Vikings return seven letterwinners for the upcoming season along with announced incoming freshmen Avery Dykstra (G, Lynden, WA/Lynden Christian), Katrina Gimmaka (F, Everson, WA/Nooksack Valley) and Mollie Olson (G, Napavine, WA/Napavine). The 2018-19 schedule includes three tournaments in Bellingham during November and December as well as a tournament in Seattle. The GNAC schedule will begin with games at Simon Fraser (Nov. 27) and at home against Montana State Billings (Dec. 1).
