Missy Tiber

Hometown: Bellaire, Ohio Position: Head Coach Birthdate: 07/26/1972

Experience: Third Year Alma Mater: West Liberty State, 1994

Updated April 5, 2011

A proven winner, a respected recruiter and no stranger to building a program from the ground up, Missy Tiber became the eighth head coach in Southern Illinois women's basketball history on April 23, 2009. Coming off her second season at the helm, Tiber looks to continue building the Salukis into a Missouri Valley Conference contender.

Tiber has established herself as a solid recruiter through two years in Carbondale, having secured a top 150 class in 2010 and a top 50 class in 2011. Notably, Tiber's 2011 class was ranked 36th nationally by ESPN HoopGurlz, putting it fourth among all teams from mid-major conferences. The 2011 class featured a four-star, top-100 player in Ariel Haynes, along with two three-star recruits in Jaleesa Armstrong and Dyana Pierre.

Two players out of the first class Tiber brought to Carbondale, Stephany Neptune and Teri Oliver, went on to earn All-MVC accolades. Neptune, who followed Tiber to SIU from Tusculum College, earned Second-Team All-MVC honors and was named the Valley Newcomer of the Year in 2010 while Oliver was named to the MVC All-Freshman team in 2010 before earning Honorable Mention All-MVC honors in 2011.

Despite the team's 7-52 record in her first two years at SIU, Tiber's overall record shows she is a winner with the ability to turn around a struggling program. Prior to SIU, Tiber compiled a 167-70 (.705) record during eight years as head coach at NCAA Division II schools Tusculum College and Belmont Abbey College, which included three trips to the Division II Tournament, three conference championships and two All-American selections. In her eight seasons prior to SIU, Tiber's teams averaged 76.5 points per game and 20 wins per season in her up-tempo system.

At Tusculum College
Tiber restored the storied Pioneers women's basketball program to prominence in just four years at the helm (2005-09). After having just one winning season in the eight years prior to her arrival, Tusculum posted four-consecutive winning seasons with a .716 winning percentage under Tiber. Her last two seasons at Tusculum saw the Pioneers post back-to-back 26-win campaigns with two-straight South Atlantic Conference (SAC) Championships and consecutive trips to the NCAA Division II National Tournament for the first time in program history.

Tusculum ended the 2008-09 season ranked 21st in the final USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll after finishing with a 26-6 record and posting the program's first ever win in the NCAA Division II National Tournament. Tusculum set or tied 10 individual and team program marks in its historic 2008-09 campaign, including a school-record 73.6 percent team free throw percentage.

Following the Pioneers' 2008-09 season Stephany Neptune and Jasmine Gunn garnered First-Team All-SAC honors while Ashli Oliver earned Second-Team accolades. Gunn was also named Second-Team Daktronics All-Southeast Region and Honorable Mention WBCA Division II State Farm Coaches' All-America Team.

In 2007-08, the Pioneers enjoyed one of their finest seasons in school history as Tusculum posted a 26-5 record and won the program's first ever SAC Championship. Tusculum mounted winning streaks of 12 and 11 games during the season, as the Pioneers claimed their first 20-win season in 11 years and earned the school's first ever National Tournament berth.

Three players earned all-conference recognition following the 2007-08 campaign, including Neptune, who also became the first women's basketball player at Tusculum to earn All-America recognition as she was named Honorable Mention All-America by the WBCA. The WBCA also honored Tiber, naming her Region Coach of the Year. Also earning All-SAC honors were guards Oliver and Gunn, who was selected as the SAC Freshman of the Year. The trio led the Pioneers to a 13-1 SAC record, the best in school history. The 2007-08 team finished the year nationally ranked in 10 statistical categories, including the seventh-best scoring offense in the nation at 78.7 points per game.

In 2006-07, Tusculum battled through numerous injuries to key personnel, but still posted a 16-13 record and advanced to the SAC Tournament semifinal for a second-straight year. Tiber had two players go down with knee injuries but Tusculum won four of its last five games with just eight healthy bodies, including a convincing 81-61 win over second-seeded Catawba College in the SAC Tournament quarterfinal. Tusculum's average of 8.7 three-point field goals per game led the SAC and the team established new school and conference single-season records with 252 three-pointers. Oliver paced the Pioneers' three-point attack with 3.6 treys per game (3rd in NCAA Division II), earning Second-Team All-SAC honors.

In her first season at Tusculum, Tiber took the Pioneers to new heights, leading the squad to an 18-10 showing, including a 7-7 conference record, as the Pioneers tied for second place in the SAC. The 18-10 record was a vast improvement over the team's 8-21 finish the year prior to Tiber's arrival. The 10-win improvement was the fifth-best margin in the nation in NCAA Division II. Tiber also led her young team to its first appearance in the SAC Tournament Championship. Her efforts earned her SAC Coach of the Year honors.

Tusculum made its way into the SAC Record Book in 22 different categories under Tiber in 2005-06. Tiber built upon the current talent base with a strong nucleus of freshmen, including Neptune, Oliver, Shantae Shank and Kat Spears. In her inaugural Tusculum season, five of her players earned league honors, including Second-Team All-SAC selections Chassity Martin, Amber Redding and Brooke Underwood. Neptune and Oliver were named to the SAC All-Freshman Team while Underwood led all three NCAA divisions with an average of 8.8 assists per game. As a team, TC ranked third in NCAA Division II, averaging 8.7 three-point field goals per contest.

At Belmont Abbey College
Tiber guided the Crusaders to an 81-36 record in four years at Belmont Abbey, including a 2004-05 campaign in which the team posted a 22-8 record and advanced to the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) Tournament championship game. The 2004-05 Crusaders averaged 8.7 three-point field goals per game, which ranked second in the nation while the team's scoring average of 84 points per game ranked fifth in the country. Tiber mentored eight all-conference selections at Belmont Abbey, including Nicole Woods, who earned NCAA Division II All-Region recognition in 2005. Woods ranked third nationally in Division II with 8.1 assists per game in 2004-05, and her scoring average of 18.5 points per game ranked 29th.

At West Liberty
Prior to arriving at Belmont Abbey, Tiber served six years as the assistant women's basketball coach at West Liberty State, her alma mater. During her tenure at West Liberty, the Hilltoppers won three West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) championships, four WVIAC Tournament titles and earned four NCAA Division II Tournament berths.

During her collegiate playing career at West Liberty, Tiber scored 926 points in her three seasons with the Hilltoppers. As a senior, she averaged 17 points per game, earning All-WVIAC honors, and was selected to the WVIAC All-Tournament squad.

A native of Bellaire, Ohio, Tiber earned her bachelor's degree in communications from West Liberty in 1994. While at Belmont Abbey, she also served as the institution's Senior Woman Administrator for the 2004-05 academic year. Tiber earned her master's degree in sport leadership from the Center for Sport Leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University in December 2009.

Missy Tiber's Record