COACHES
The Thunderbirds also finished the 2019-20 academic year with a team GPA of 3.742, good enough for No. 5 in the country. Southern Utah was the top-ranked team in the Big Sky with the next closest team being Northern Arizona at No. 20. Montana was the only other Big Sky team in the WBCA Top 25 at No. 22. During her first season at the helm of the program the team won eight games, improving their previous season total by more than double. Their eight total wins and four conference wins were the most the team had had since 2014-15. The Thunderbirds picked up huge wins over BYU, the University of San Diego, and Utah Valley during their non-conference schedule and also won their first Big Sky Championship Tournament game since 2013-14 taking down Montana in the first round. Nine Lady T-Birds were named to the Big Sky All-Academic team in 2018-19 and Rebecca Cardenas was named to the Big Sky All-Conference team, the first T-Bird to do so since 2016-17. Mason joined the Thunderbirds from Saint Mary's College where she served on staff for 12 years under head coach Paul Thomas. Mason held the title of Associate Head Coach for her last five seasons. Her duties included coordinating all aspects of recruiting, opponent scouting, game preparation, and player development. Mason worked primarily with the post players during her time with the Gaels, which led to the development of two WCC Players of the Year, a two-time WCC Defender of the Year, and a WCC Tournament MVP amongst many other accolades. The two-time WCC Defender of the Year, Louella Tomlinson, is the Gael's all-time leading scorer, taking the title from Mason herself, and holds the NCAA record for career blocks per game average. Before starting her coaching career in 2000, Mason was a four-year letterwinner for the Gaels from 1996-2000. During her time as a member of the team, Mason was a three-time All-WCC First Team member, two-time WCC Tournament Team member (including Tournament MVP in 1999), WCC Freshman of the Year in her inaugural season, and WCC Player of the Year her junior season. She led the conference in scoring for three straight years and finished her career as the WCC's second all-time leading scorer. In addition to her individual achievements, Mason led the Gaels to the program's first NCAA tournament appearance in 1999 and the WNIT in 2000. In 2007, Mason was inducted into the Saint Mary's Hall of Fame and in 2014 she was inducted into the WCC Hall of Honor.
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