Cody Bench was hired by Wendy Schuller in July of 2018 after previously serving as the head coach at University of Alaska Fairbanks for seven seasons. The start of the 2019-20 season begins her second year on staff.
During her first season in 2018-19, the Eagles posted an overall record of 13-20 (9-11 in conference play), but advanced all the way to the Big Sky Conference Championship game after earning a No. 6 seed for the tournament.
Violet Kapri Morrow became the 18th member of Eastern’s 1,000-point club and ended her career seventh on Eastern’s all-time scoring list with 1,357 points, earning Second-Team All-Big Sky honors. Freshman Grace Kirscher was named Honorable Mention while Uriah Howard earned the program’s first Top Reserve of the Year award. The Eagles finished the season ranked in the top-fifty nationally in three-point field goals per game with an average of 8.3.
Prior to Eastern Washington, Bench served as the assistant women’s basketball coach at Wenatchee Valley College during the 2017-18 season. Before that, she was the head coach at the University of Alaska Fairbanks from 2010 to 2017. Bench led the Nanooks to 53 wins during her seven seasons, including the first-ever .500 season (14-14) in 2014-15. Bench helped the Nanooks improve from a one-win season in 2010-11 to averaging 13 wins per season during her final three years in Alaska.
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Under Bench’s tutelage, the Nanooks recorded three-straight double-digit winning seasons from 2014-16 for the first time in program history, including setting the program’s single-season record for most Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) wins in a single-season with nine in 2016-17.
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During her time, Bench coached two Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, four All-GNAC selections and six All-GNAC Academic Team selections. She also recruited four-time All-GNAC selection Jordan Wilson, who finished her career third on the program’s all-time scoring list with over 1,700 points.
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Bench is no stranger to Alaska Fairbanks as she competed for the Nanooks from 2002 to 2005 and led the GNAC in scoring from 2003 to 2005.
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She has also spent time as an assistant coach at William Woods University, where she helped lead the team to the NAIA National Tournament with an overall record of 21-10, and Moberly Area Community College. Bench graduated with her Bachelor’s of Science in Natural Resources Management from Alaska Fairbanks in 2005 and her Master’s of Education in Athletic and Activities Administration from William Woods in 2009.
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