Jeff Dow was named the head coach of the University of the Incarnate Word women’s basketball program on April 1, 2019. The 2024-25 season marked Dow’s 35th coaching women’s basketball at the collegiate level and sixth at UIW.
Since taking over the program, Dow has transformed the Cardinals on- and off-the-court. In competition Dow has led the program to unforeseen heights while amassing several school records in the process. In just six seasons, including a shortened 2020-21 season beset by COVID-19 cancellations, Dow’s teams have 48 more wins than the previous six seasons combined despite playing 7 fewer games. After factoring out the seventeen guarantee games that have been played (Baylor, Arkansas, Kansas State, TCU, and Texas Tech among others), the program’s overall record is 86-62 (.581) during his tenure.
Since Dow’s arrival in 2019-20, only UIW and Southeastern Louisiana have qualified for each Southland Conference postseason tournament in the past six years. In 2022, the women’s basketball program became the first women’s athletic program at UIW to capture a Southland Conference tournament championship and advance to the NCAA postseason tournament.
Despite losing 68% of the scoring and 63% of the minutes played from the 2023-24 roster, the 2024-25 season marked the third consecutive year that UIW earned the 4-seed and a first-round bye in the Southland Conference tournament on their way to reaching the semi-finals and being selected to the postseason Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT). The Cardinals also got off to the best start in program history after 21 games (13-8) and in conference play after 12 games (8-4). It also marked the third consecutive winning season overall and in conference, the only women’s sport at UIW to accomplish that feat.
Academically the Cardinals have exceeded a team 3.0 cumulative grade point average every semester since his arrival with a 100% graduation rate for all student-athletes who played their senior season at UIW. Altogether, 57 student-athletes have been selected to the Southland Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll (from 2019-24). Fall semester 2024 saw the Cardinals break the team GPA record they set in spring 2024 (3.61) with a 3.66 GPA. Ten of the thirteen undergraduate student-athletes made the Dean’s List (GPA above a 3.5).
The 2023-24 squad broke multiple program records both on-the-court and academically. The team established a new school record for overall wins surpassing the mark previously set in 2022-23. The 19-11 record marked a school record for overall winning percentage (.633). The number of conference wins, 12, broke the school record set in Dow’s first and fourth seasons at UIW. In addition to tying a program-best fourth place finish in the conference standings, school records were set for conference winning percentage (.667) and consecutive games won, seven.
Other accomplishments included becoming the fastest team to win 10 games since the 2012-13 season (when UIW was NCAA Division II), recording the highest NET ranking in school history (128 out of 362 NCAA Division I teams), securing the most non-conference wins, 7, and best non-conference record (7-4) in Division I school history. The 2023-24 team recorded the most road wins, 8, since 2009-10 and had an 8-3 (.727) road record vs. non-Power 5 opponents.
Statistically, the Cardinals broke the school record set in 2022-23 for fewest points allowed per game (56.4) and field goal percentage defense (37.8%) since becoming Division I. A school record was also set for free throw percentage (78.7%) in Southland Conference games only (which also ranked 1st in the same category). And for the first time in its Division I history, UIW had two all-conference honorees (Nina De Leon Negron and Aliyah Collins).
Academically, the 2023-24 Cardinals squad placed fourteen of its fifteen student-athletes on the Southland Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll and eleven on UIW’s Dean’s List, with six being named twice. The 2024 spring semester saw the Cardinals set a program record with a 3.61 GPA on their way to an overall 3.53 team GPA for the academic year, also a program record. Individually, Destiny Terrell, Nina De Leon Negron, and Aliyah Collins were named 2nd team Academic All-Conference. For Terrell, it was the third consecutive year she earned this honor.
Dow’s 2024-25 team continued to embrace the Mission of the University of the Incarnate Word with its commitment to community service. The Cardinals performed over 500 hours of service, on average more than 31 hours per student-athlete. This was after performing over 394 hours of service in 2023-24, more than 26 hours per student-athlete. This came on the heels of volunteering for over 396 in 2022-23 and 430 hours in 2021-22, or more than 30 hours per student-athlete. Altogether during his six-year tenure, the Cardinals have volunteered for over 2200 hours of community service.
The 2022-23 season was expected to be a rebuilding year after capturing the Southland Conference tournament championship and participating in the NCAA Tournament in 2021-22. Despite being picked to finish seventh in the Southland Conference preseason coaches’ poll, a young squad that leaned heavily on five newcomers, including four freshmen, rode a six-game winning streak to close the regular season and exceeded expectations by finishing fourth in the Southland Conference standings. In the process, the Cardinals set multiple school records that season since making the transition to Division I in 2013-14.
The 2022-23 team broke the school record for overall wins (later broken by the 2023-24 squad) set in 2019-20 and 2021-22 (Dow’s first and third seasons at UIW). The 15-14 record marked UIW’s first overall winning record since becoming Division I and along the way also set a school record for overall winning percentage. The number of conference wins, 10, matched the school record set in Dow’s first season at UIW in 2019-20. In addition to a program-best fourth place finish in the conference standings, school records were set for conference winning percentage (.556) and consecutive games won, six (both of which were later broken in 2023-24). This was accomplished while having the only team in the Southland Conference with four freshmen averaging over 10 minutes per contest.
Defensively the 2022-23 squad would break their own school record set in 2021-22 by allowing only 58.3 points per game (and that mark would be broken again in 2023-24). Offensively they set a program record for 3-point field goal percentage, 34.8%, in Southland Conference games only and ranked first in the conference in made 3-point field goals per game. Their assist-to-turnover ratio of .951 was first in Southland Conference games only and established a new school record.
Individually, Nina De Leon Negron made an immediate impact as a leader on the team. Defensively she led the conference in points per possession, field goal percentage, effective field goal percentage, points per shot and scoring percentage while finishing third in steals. Offensively she ranked first in assist-to-turnover ratio. These accomplishments earned her Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year along with a spot on the All-Defense Team and Second Team All-Conference.
The 2022-23 season also saw three other notable accomplishments. The Cardinals knocked off crosstown rival UTSA, 56-53, for the second time in three years. De Leon Negron singlehandedly outscored the visiting Roadrunners 17-13 in the fourth quarter to help lead the Cardinals to victory. UIW’s 70-62 triumph over Southland Conference foe Nicholls State on January 28, 2023, would be Dow’s 300th win as a head coach. And with all twelve student-athletes returning for the 2023-24 season, UIW was the only basketball program in the Southland Conference, men, or women, to have a 100 percent retention rate,
Academically, the 2022-23 Cardinals squad placed nine of its twelve student-athletes on the Southland Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll and nine on UIW’s Dean’s List, with three being named twice. The 2022 fall semester saw the Cardinals set a then program record with a 3.51 GPA on their way to an overall 3.41 team GPA for the academic year. For their accomplishments the Cardinals received “Special Mention” by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). Individually, Destiny Terrell was named 2nd team Academic All-Conference for the second consecutive year after earning a perfect 4.0 GPA in each semester.
Dow’s third season, 2021-22, will best be remembered for four magical days in March that propelled the Cardinals to a Southland Conference tournament championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, both of which were a first in UIW women’s basketball history. It marked Dow’s seventh trip to the NCAA tournament as a head coach, and eighth overall. In successive days, the Cardinals knocked off Nicholls State, McNeese State, Houston Baptist, and Southeastern Louisiana to punch their ticket to the “Big Dance”. Each win in the conference tournament would be the first in school history. Houston Baptist entered the tournament as the number one seed and Southeastern Louisiana was the consensus preseason favorite to win the Southland Conference. Junior forward Tiana Gardner was named the Most Valuable Player of the Southland Conference tournament after scoring 22 points in the championship game, including two free throws to send it into overtime at the end of regulation and two more near the end of the overtime period to ice the victory.
The Cardinals would fall in the NCAA Tournament to Howard University in a hard-fought game, 55-51, in what would be their fifth game in seven days. UIW would play on national television for both the Southland Conference tournament championship (CBS Sports), and the NCAA Tournament game vs. Howard which was featured on ESPNU. The Cardinals contest with Howard was also historic as it was the inaugural women’s NCAA “First Four” game and was the opening game of the 2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
The 2021-22 team was led by Jaaucklyn Moore who was named to the Women’s Basketball All-Conference First Team. Moore averaged 17.6 points per game during the regular season which led the Cardinals, as well as the Southland Conference, in scoring. Moore is the only UIW women’s basketball player to lead the Southland Conference in scoring. She was also the only student-athlete in the conference to notch a 30-point game and she finished the season with two. Moore dropped in 35 points against Nicholls State and 30 at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Moore would also go on to be named 1st team Academic All-Conference while Destiny Terrell was named 2nd team. Collectively the 2021-22 team combined to have a 3.32 team GPA with twelve student-athletes named to the Southland Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll and six on UIW’s Dean’s List.
The 2020-21 season was truncated by games cancelled due COVID-19 and a mid-February ice storm. But it also ushered in a freshmen class that would go on to qualify for the Southland Conference tournament and play in the conference tournament for the first time in school history. After having to replace 73% of the scoring and 66% of the minutes played from the senior-laden 2019-20 roster, four freshmen (Jaaucklyn Moore, Destiny Terrell, Myra Bell, and Brenna Perez) averaged double figure minutes and combined to start 29 games. The Cardinals qualified for the Southland Conference tournament for the second time in school history with freshmen playing 46% of the overall minutes and scoring 48% of the points. Despite a very young and inexperienced team, the Cardinals had what was then the second-best conference winning percentage in school history (now fifth best after the 2024-25 season). The signature win of the 2020-21 season was the school’s first against crosstown rival, UTSA, 69-63.
In his first season at the helm of the Cardinals, 2019-20, Dow led the team to a 14-15 overall record and 10-10 in conference play, marking the best record at the time since the team moved up to Division I in 2013-14. Dow inherited a program that was coming off back-to-back 5-24 seasons (and 9-27 combined in the Southland Conference). The nine-win improvement was ranked first in the country for most improved team for a first-year coaching staff. Overall, the nine-win increase ranked sixth nationally among all coaching staffs.
In the Southland Conference Preseason Poll of head coaches and sports information directors, UIW was picked to finish a distant last, 13th. Ultimately the Cardinals would finish sixth. Along the way UIW would notch wins over consensus favorite and defending Southland Conference champion, Abilene Christian, and three others that received first-place votes in SFA, Sam Houston State and Lamar. The wins over SFA and Lamar were the first in school history, and SFA and Sam Houston State were both in first place at the time the Cardinals knocked them off.
UIW punched its ticket to the Southland Conference tournament for the first time since joining the SLC, however, the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cardinals set a school record for overall wins since transitioning to Division I (surpassed by the 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25 teams) and Southland Conference wins, 10 (matched by the 2022-23 team and surpassed by the 2023-24 and 2024-25 teams). They also set records for overall and conference winning percentage which were also later broken by Dow’s 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25 squads.
Under his direction, senior guard Imani Robinson was named first-team all-conference, marking the first Cardinal to do so since moving up to Division I. Robinson was named the Southland Conference Player of the Week February 24, 2020, two days after she led UIW to its monumental first win over SFA while scoring 20 points, pulling down 6 rebounds and contributing 6 assists and 4 steals. Robinson would go on to play professionally in Europe after graduating from UIW.
Off the court, UIW would achieve a 3.52 team GPA in the spring semester of 2020 and 13 student-athletes were named to the Southland Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll. Despite their efforts being curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Dow’s first-year squad still volunteered for over 300 hours of community service.
Dow came to UIW after five seasons as the head coach at the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) from 2014-2019. While at ULM, Dow registered the Warhawks’ only non-conference winning record since the 2009-10 season, a feat his teams accomplished twice (2015-16 and 2018-19) and the only non-conference winning records in the previous 13 seasons of the program. ULM’s five-game winning streak in Dow’s last season, 2018-19, was the longest in school history since the program’s 2006-07 season.
Dow also recruited and coached Arsula Clark, the 2017-18 Louisiana Sportswriter’s Freshman of the Year (first in school history) and a 2018-19 All-Sun Belt Conference member. This marked the first time in ULM’s history that a sophomore had achieved that honor. Clark had career highs of 33 points and 14 rebounds in Dow’s 500th win as a coach in ULM’s victory over Arkansas State, March 7, 2019.
In Dow’s first year in Monroe (2014-15), he guided the Warhawks to their most overall and conference wins since the 2010-11 campaign. This accomplishment came after replacing the top four scorers from the previous two seasons due to graduation. In the final RPI computer rankings ULM finished ahead of schools in the Pac-12, Big East, Mountain West, and American Athletic Conference. Statistically the Warhawks finished first in the Sun Belt Conference in free throw attempts per game and offensive rebounding percentage. The Warhawk women would also finish ranked 3rd in the 11-team Sun Belt in attendance highlighted by a crowd of over 3,500 against in-state rival University of Louisiana Lafayette, a figure that hadn’t been reached since February 3, 1994. Senior post Sharnice Brooks garnered second team all-Sun Belt honors by racking up more points and rebounds in her senior year alone than she had in her first three years combined.
Dow’s second year at ULM featured the first winning record against non-conference opponents for the program since the 2009-10 season. The Warhawks nearly pulled off an epic win but fell in overtime on the road to SEC foe LSU. The Warhawks would later go on to defeat Sun Belt Conference champion Troy. For the second consecutive year a senior post would be named second team all-Sun Belt as Alayshia Hunter received the honor after finishing fifth in the Sun Belt in scoring and field goal percentage, sixth in rebounding and seventh in blocked shots.
In Dow’s five years, 45 Warhawks were named to either the ULM’s Dean’s List (3.5 or higher GPA), the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner’s List (3.5 or higher GPA) or the Sun Belt Academic Honor Roll (3.0-3.49 GPA). In 2015-16, senior point guard Aundrea Davis, a San Antonio native, was named to ULM’s President’s List for achieving a 4.0 GPA for the spring 2016 semester.
As a head coach and as a first assistant, Dow has compiled twelve 20-win seasons, eight NCAA tournament appearances, four postseason WNIT appearances and seven conference championships. In the eight years just prior to his inaugural season at ULM, Dow averaged over 23 wins per season with an overall record as a head coach of 187-57 (.766) and a 117-29 (.801) mark in conference play. Dow’s squads also registered winning seasons in each of those eight years. Prior to arriving at ULM, Dow averaged over 20 wins per season as a head coach.
Before beginning his tenure at ULM, Dow was one of the most successful coaches in Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) history (2008-13), compiling a five-year record of 108-40 (.729) at the helm, with a 65-21 (.756) mark in conference. Dow guided the Crimson Hawks to the NCAA Tournament three times and won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) championship in 2009. Dow coached the Crimson Hawks to a No. 7 ranking in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coaches Poll in 2008-09. He also got them to No. 19 in 2009-10, No. 17 in 2011-12 and No. 12 in 2012-13. After the 2012-13 season Dow was ranked 22nd among active coaches at the NCAA Division II level in winning percentage and 40th all-time.
In the postseason, Dow’s squad garnered first round victories in the 2009, 2012 and 2013 NCAA Division II tournaments. He was also the first head coach in school history to win 20 games in his debut season, and to win 10 or more games in the PSAC West Division in five consecutive seasons. Dow’s 26 wins in his debut season set a school record that still stands. During his tenure at IUP, Dow recruited and/or coached three players that were named All-Americans: Jahzinga Tracey, Sarah Pastorek and Lindsay Stamp. Tracey and Pastorek’s selections would mark a run of five consecutive years that Dow had a different player named All-American. Off the court, he had a combined 63 student-athletes earn IUP Dean’s List honors and 33 were named PSAC Scholar Athletes.
Dow joined IUP from Anderson University (S.C.) where he tallied a record of 79-17 (.822) and led his teams to the NCAA Tournament each of his three seasons. In his three years at the helm (2005-08), Dow was one of just eight head coaches to lead his program to at least one NCAA Division II tournament victory in three consecutive years. He guided Anderson to two Conference Carolinas regular season titles and one postseason championship in 2005-06. His 2005-06 squad led all NCAA Division II schools in scoring (83.5 points per game). Dow held a 52-8 (.867) record in conference play and posted a 40-2 home record in three seasons.
While at Anderson, Dow recruited and/or coached three players that earned All-America honors in successive seasons: LaShonda Chiles, Deidra Langston and Nikki Anthony. Chiles was recognized in Dow’s first season at Anderson in 2005-06 after finishing third in the nation in scoring. Langston was also named 2006-07 Conference Carolinas Player of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year. In addition to All-American honors, Anthony was named the Conference Carolinas Player of the Year after the 2007-08 season. Off the floor, Kim Hausman was named the Murphy Osborne Award recipient in 2006-07 as Anderson’s Outstanding Senior Student-Athlete.
In his final season at Anderson in 2007-08, the program finished in the top-10 in the country in win-loss percentage, scoring defense, rebound margin, and scoring margin and was ranked as high as No. 12 in the WBCA national poll. For his team's accomplishments, Dow was selected as the Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year. In his first two seasons Dow’s Anderson squads were ranked 13th and 17th, respectively, in the WBCA national poll.
Prior to Anderson, Dow held the first assistant position at Colorado State (2002-05), Santa Clara (2000-02), UC-Irvine (1996-99) and New Mexico State (1992-96). During his time at those four universities, they had an overall record of 218-134 (.619) and a combined conference record of 122-65 (.652). Over the course of those twelve seasons, Dow’s teams made five appearances in the NCAA or postseason WNIT tournament and won two regular season conference championships. During his tenure at NMSU as the post coach, Dow worked with three-time Big West Conference Player of the Year, 1995-96 All-American and former WNBA player Anita Maxwell. While at UCI, the Anteaters posted an 11-4 record in Big West Conference play (1997-98), which would stand as the most conference wins the program had achieved for the next 22 seasons.
Dow had his first head coaching job at 24 years old at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (1990-91). His team was picked to finish ninth (last) in the preseason poll in his first year, but Dow propelled them to a third place showing and reached the semifinals of the Lone Star Conference Tournament. As the Lady Javelinas’ coach, Dow recruited and/or coached Patricia Rivers and Karen Weiss who were named WBCA All-Americans under Dow and were later inducted into the university’s athletics hall of fame.
Dow started his career as a graduate assistant at the University of Oregon in 1989-90. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and physical education in 1988 and his master’s in physical education in 1991 from Oregon.
Dow was elected for a two-year appointment as the chairperson for the Southland Conference women’s basketball coaches committee in May 2023, a position he also held in 2007-08 for Conference Carolinas while he was coaching at Anderson University. Dow has also been a voting member of the College Insider.com Mid-Major Top 25 coaches’ poll since the 2014-15 season.
Dow is married to Dr. Emily Dow, an assistant professor in the department of Kinesiology at UIW. The couple has two daughters, Chloe, 12, and Helena, 9.
COACH DOW'S FILE
Alma Mater: Oregon (1988); Oregon (1991)
Head Coaching Record: 344-271 (.559)
Overall Coaching Record: 586-437 (.573)
2019-2025: University of the Incarnate Word, Head Coach
2014-19: University of Louisiana Monroe, Head Coach
2008-13: Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Head Coach
2005-08: Anderson University (SC), Head Coach
2002-05: Colorado State University, Assistant Coach
2000-02: Santa Clara University, Assistant Coach
1999-00: UTSA, Interim Head Coach
1996-99: UC Irvine, Assistant Coach
1992-96: New Mexico State University, Assistant Coach
1990-92: Texas A&M-Kingsville University, Head Coach
1989-90: University of Oregon, Graduate Assistant
