Coaching Staff
Kayla Waskow
Head Coach
After two years as an assistant coach, Kayla Waskow was named Coe College Women's Basketball Head Coach on June 26, 2017. One of the most decorated players in school history, Waskow returned to Coe in June of 2015 as an assistant coach. In her first six seasons in charge, Kayla has racked up 80 wins and winning percentage of .563, second all-time in Coe women's basketball history while coaching 21 all-conference players, three all-region players and one all-American.
The 2022-23 season was filled of record-setting performances and the program's highest win total since Waskow took over, going 18-8 overall with a 10-6 mark in league play. Kaalyn Petersen (First Team), Caydee Kirkham (First Team) and Molly Buck (Honorable Mention) all earned all-conference honors following the season while Petersen earned an all-region selection. Petersen broke Coach Waskow's single-game rebounding record (28) with 29 boards in a double-overtime win against Simpson and also set a new single-season rebounding record with a total of 265. Kirkham, a freshman guard, broke the school's single-game scoring record with a 37-point performance in a victory at Luther.
Waskow's Kohawks picked up two all-conference honors in the 2021-22 campaign as freshman Ellie Wisner (Second Team) and sophomore Kaalyn Petersen (Honorable Mention) earned the postseason awards after leading Coe throughout the season. Despite a shortened season, 2021 was one of the best in program history as Waskow's Kohawks reached the conference championship game for the first time since 2014 while producing four all-conference players and one all-American. Jackie Feldt, who broke the school record for scoring average (20.7 ppg), earned two all-American honors from d3hoops.com and the WBCA. Waskow's team then finished fourth in the league in 2019-20, with a record of 10-6 in the A-R-C while Jackie Feldt (1st Team), Madeline Wilkins (Second Team) and Jamie Feldt (Honorable Mention) earned all-conference honors.
The squad added three All-ARC honors in 2018-19 in Jackie Feldt (First Team), Madeline Wilkins (Second Team), and Destiny Smith (Honorable Mention). The Coe alum had a successful first year at the helm of the Kohawk women's basketball program in 2017-18. The team finished third in the IIAC with an 11-5 conference mark. Three seniors earned All-IIAC honors in Jenna Lehman (First Team), Aleena Hobbs (Second Team), and Jordan Holmes (Honorable Mention).
The Dunkerton native played five years for the Kohawks, earning a medical redshirt after playing in just nine games as a freshman. After graduation from Coe in 2013, Waskow became a graduate assistant at Aurora University, where she earned a Masters of Business Administration degree in 2015.
Waskow owned 14 school records upon graduation, while ranking in the top five in 29 categories. Waskow set three single-season records in 2011-12 for points scored (445), field goals made (168) and free throws attempted (150). She graduated as Coe's career leader in points (1,583) and now sits second all time. Also at the time of graduation, Waskow was the career leader in field goals made (599), free throws made (364), rebounds (695), games played (118), games started (92) and minutes played (3,068). She also set a single-game record for rebounds with 20 against Buena Vista on Jan. 14, 2012, a night she also scored 28 points in one of the most dominating performances in school history.
A two-year captain, Waskow played on Coe's first two NCAA Tournament teams. Coe advanced to at least the second round in both appearances, including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2011. Waskow was a three-time All-Iowa Conference First Team selection, while also being named the Iowa Conference MVP in 2011-12. She is the only Kohawk in school history to have earned MVP honors in women's basketball.
Jordan Holmes