From the sidelines
By Marty Gordon
When Stanford and Arizona’s women’s basketball teams took to the floor for the national championship, there was a local flair to the contest on both sides of the court. Stanford assistant coach Brittany Anderson is a former player at Blacksburg High School and Virginia Tech. She had also coached at Radford University and Virginia Tech.
Anderson joined the Stanford staff in June.
After moving with her family to Blacksburg, she played one season at Blacksburg High School.
Playing for the Hokies from 2003-07, Anderson helped guide Virginia Tech to four straight postseason appearances, including three trips to the NCAA Tournament and one to the WNIT. She shot 44.6 percent from the floor for her career and averaged 10.2 points per game as a senior.
Upon graduating from VT with a bachelor’s degree in apparel design and merchandise management, Anderson served as the corporate recruiter for M.C. Dean, Inc., in Dulles, Va., from 2008-13.
During that time, Anderson also coached girls’ basketball at Potomac Falls High School in Potomac Falls, Va., and in the AAU ranks.
She joined the college coaching ranks in 2013, serving as an assistant at Radford and aiding in the resurgence of its program that included a trip to the WNIT in 2015. With her return to her alma mater, Anderson helped Virginia Tech to four straight postseason appearances, highlighted by a run to the WNIT championship game in 2018.
Across the floor, the Arizona squad included Trinity Baptiste, who had transferred from Virginia Tech. She went to Arizona to experience the NCAA Tournament after stops at Northwest Florida State College and Virginia Tech.
In a meeting of Hokies, Anderson hugged Baptiste after the game.
Baptiste started all 27 games for the Wildcats on their run to the national championship game. She scored in double figures for Arizona nine times and ended the year averaging 8.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, averaging 26.4 minutes per game.
While at Tech, Baptiste was the ACC Sixth Player of the Year in 2020. She has said she will not return for another year of eligibility at Arizona.
Meanwhile another former Radford University women’s basketball head coach, Tajama Abraham-Ngongba, has a new gig after being named the head coach of the U.S. Virgin Islands’ women’s national basketball team. Tajama coached for the Highlanders from 2008-2013 and compiled a 62-85 mark that included a 22-11 record in 2011. She was named the Big South Conference’s Coach of the Year.
In other women’s basketball news, Radford University received a top-notch commitment this past week when Vanessa Blake made her announcement. The Ashley Ridge (S.C.) 6-1 senior was one of 16 players named to South Carolina’s 5A all-state team after averaging 18.5 points, 14.7 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game for the season.
Radford also received news that 5-8 Harrisonburg guard Mariah Cain is also headed to the school. She averaged 18.2 points and five rebounds this past season.
