Charity Dawn Elliott (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Shira; born November 11, 1969) is an American basketball coach currently serving as the head women's basketball coach at

Point Loma Nazarene University Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) is a private Christian liberal arts college with its main campus on the Point Loma oceanfront in San Diego, California, United States. It was founded in 1902 as a Bible college by the Church of the Nazarene. ...

. She was the women's basketball team head coach at

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

from 2012 to 2021. She has previously been the women's head basketball coach at

Portland State Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

, and California Baptist.

Playing career

After attending Fair Grove High School in

Fair Grove, Missouri Fair Grove is a city in Greene County, Missouri, Greene County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,582 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Missouri Springfield, Missouri Metropolitan Area, Metro ...

, Elliott began playing college basketball as a guard at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

. As a freshman (1987–88), Elliott averaged 7.1 points and 4.3 rebounds. The following season, she averaged 16.8 points and 5.7 rebounds. In 1989, Elliott transferred to Southwest Missouri State University (now

Missouri State Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

). After redshirting a year per NCAA transfer rules, Elliott averaged 7.1 points and 2.5 rebounds in the 1990–91 season. In her senior season in 1991–92, Elliott averaged 8.4 points and 2.3 rebounds and helped Southwest Missouri State to a 31–3 record and its first Final Four appearance in school history. Elliott ranked in the top 10 nationally in field goal percentage. Elliott graduated from Southwest Missouri State with a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in psychology.

Coaching career

Elliott began her coaching career in 1992 as freshmen girls' basketball coach at Glendale High School in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

. The following year, Elliott joined the coaching staff of Beth Burns at

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

. From 1994 to 1996, Elliott was an assistant coach at Southwest Missouri State, followed by a three-year stint at Southwest Baptist while pursuing an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in education at the university. In 1999, Elliott became women's head coach for the

South Adelaide Basketball Club South Adelaide Panthers is a NBL1 Central club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club fields both a men's and women's team. The club is a division of the overarching South Adelaide Basketball Club (SABC), the major administrative basketball ...

of the

Australian Basketball Association The Australian Basketball Association (ABA) was a semi-professional basketball entity based in Australia. The ABA was Australia's biggest basketball competition for many years. With over 120 teams participating across five leagues and six states ...

and served one year in that position. From 2001 to 2003 Elliott had her first college head coaching position at

California Baptist University California Baptist University (Cal Baptist or CBU) is a private Christian university in Riverside, California. Founded in 1950 as California Baptist College, it is affiliated with the California Southern Baptist Convention, an organization affil ...

. Elliott would build the basketball program from scratch and compile a 28-34 record with the Lancers. In her second season the Lancers would post a 16-16 record, snapping the programs 10-year losing streak. After one season away from head coaching, Elliott returned as the head coach at Portland State. Once again she would be tasked with rebuilding the program. Over a three-year stretch Elliott compiled a 27-57 record. After the Vikings went 3-23, including 1-13 in the Big Sky Conference, during her first year in 2004-05, Portland State jumped to 12-16 and 6-8 in the conference during her second season and the Vikings qualified for the Big Sky Tournament. Portland State would finish 12-18 in her third season, including an 8-8 mark in the Big Sky. Elliott would leave Portland State to become the head coach at UC San Diego. From 2007-2012 Elliott would become one of the top women's basketball coaches in Division 2. While with the Tritons, Elliott would compile a 127-34 overall record and would win the West Region's Coach of the Year. Elliott would lead the Tritons to four conference champions, five tournament berths, and two third-round appearances. To begin the 2011-12 season, the team would start 26-0 and be ranked as the #1 school in the nation for seven weeks. The team finished 30–3 and made the NCAA Tournament West Regional Championship. Elliott earned

Women's Basketball Coaches Association The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels. The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches. The mission of the WBCA ...

West Region Coach of the Year and

California Collegiate Athletic Association The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. All of its current members are public universities, and upon UC ...

Coach of the Year honors that year. On April 3, 2012, Elliott was hired as the head coach for Loyola Marymount (LMU). Elliott is married to Chris Elliott and has coached alongside him for more than 7 years at UC San Diego and LMU. Elliott stepped away from her position at LMU on April 5, 2021. She was hired as head coach at

Point Loma Point Loma (Spanish: ''Punta de la Loma'', meaning "Hill Point"; Kumeyaay: ''Amat Kunyily'', meaning "Black Earth") is a seaside community within the city of San Diego, California. Geographically it is a hilly peninsula that is bordered on the w ...

on May 11, 2021.

Personal life

Charity Elliott is married to Chris Elliott, a fellow Missouri State alum who has worked together with Elliott on coaching staffs dating back to their time at San Diego State in the 1993–94 season.

Head coaching record

References