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San Francisco State - Women's Basketball

SAN FRANCISCO STATE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CAMPS

HEAD COACH | NATASHA SMITH

Smith was named head coach in August of 2018 and also serves as the program’s voting member on the CCAA Diversity & Inclusion Committee. She enters her fifth season as Head Coach for the 2022-23 season.

In her fourth year at the helm, Smith took a young squad and led them to a 10-15 record and 8-13 conference record. The Gators finished eighth in the conference that season. That season, Mya Blake, Jolene Armendariz, Taimane Lesa-Hardee and Muirae Gomez all earned All-CCAA Honorable Mention. That marked the most Gators to ever be named all conference honorees.

In her first season with the Gators, Smith led SF State to its most victories since 2015-16 and the most CCAA wins since the 2013-14 season as well as the first postseason berth since 2013. Her ten wins were the third-most by a first-year head coach in program history, and under Smith's tutelage, SF State rattled off six-straight wins, which was the longest streak since 1984-85. Jhaina Stephens was named ot the All-CCAA Second Team and Toni Edwards took home Honorable Mention recognition.

Prior to joining the Gators, Smith spent two years at the University of San Francisco, serving as the top assistant coach for Head Coach Molly Goodenbour. Before joining Coach Goodenbour's staff on the Hilltop, Smith was the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Southern Oregon University where she helped the Raiders to a 33-2 record and an appearance in the NAIA Division II championship game. Southern Oregon won the Cascade Conference regular season and tournament championships and were the second-highest scoring team in NAIA Division II with an 86.2 point per game scoring mark. Smith worked closely with first team All-America Ashley Claussen and honorable mention All-America Carly Meister and headed up the Raiders' defense which ranked No. 2 in the country in steals, sixth in rebounding and 18th in blocked shots. She also directed the academic supervision of the team which produced eight players who earned academic all-conference honors.

Before her appointment at Southern Oregon, Smith served as an assistant on Goodenbour's staff at Cal State-Dominguez Hills for two seasons (2013-15). She helped the Toros compile a 46-17 record in her two seasons on the Carson campus, which included the 2015 CCAA regular season and conference tournament championships along with berths into the 2014 and '15 NCAA Division II Championship tournament.

Smith began her coaching career at her alma mater Chico State where she served as an assistant coach for the 2012-13 season. That season the Wildcats reached the CCAA Tournament Championships and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Championship.

A 2013 graduate of Cal State-Chico, Smith was a four-year standout on the basketball team and ended her career as the school's all-time leader in games played. She also ranked sixth all-time in scoring, third in assists, fourth in free throws made, fifth in steals and ninth in three-pointers made.

A native of Sacramento, Smith attended Sheldon High School where she was a two-time All-Delta League selection.

 

ASSISTANT COACH | STEPHANIE PEREZ

Stephanie Perez joined San Francisco State as the assistant women’s basketball coach in July 2021.

Perez joined SF State from Seattle University, where she was the women’s basketball team’s graduate assistant from 2019 to 2021. At the same time, she also held roles at Seattle as a graduate coordinator for University Advancement, as an assistant equipment manager, and as a marketing assistant lead for the MSBL program. She has also served on the Diversity & Inclusion Board of the Women in Sports Events (WISE) Seattle chapter.

Perez played college basketball for two seasons at Los Angeles Trade Tech College, where she was the starting point guard. She transferred to UC Santa Barbara, where she served as lead team manager for the women’s basketball program.

The East Los Angeles native is bilingual and graduated from UC Santa Barbara with her BA in Psychology and a Minor in Applied Psychology, as well as a Sports Management Certification. She earned her Masters in Sports Business Leadership from Seattle University.