Cindy Russo (born September 7, 1952) served as the women's basketball head coach at Florida International and Lamar. Retiring in January 2015,[1][2] her career spanned 39 years with 38 of those years as a head coach. She had several accomplishments over her career. She guided the FIU Panthers to 20 consecutive winning seasons. Her teams also achieved 20 win seasons 18 times. Her teams participated in six NCAA Division I women's basketball tournaments, seven WNIT tournaments, and two NCAA Division II Tournaments.[3]

Cindy Russo
Biographical details
Born (1952-09-07) September 7, 1952 (age 72)
Portsmouth, Virginia
Playing career
1972–1975Old Dominion
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1975–1977Old Dominion (asst.)
1977–1978FIU
1978–1980Lamar
1980–2015FIU
Head coaching record
Overall707–408 (.634)

Russo was born in Portsmouth, Virginia and graduated from Old Dominion University in 1975.[4]

Head coaching record

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
FIU Golden Panthers (AIAW independent) (1977–1978)
1977–78 FIU 8–14
Lamar Lady Cardinals[5] (AIAW Independent) (1978–1980)
1978–79 Lamar 16–11
1979–80 Lamar 20–11
FIU Golden Panthers[6] (AIAW Independent) (1980–1982)
1980–81 FIU 7–13
1981–82 FIU 27–10 AIAW Small College First Round[7]
FIU Golden Panthers[6] (NCAA Division II independent) (1982–1987)
1982–83 FIU 17–7 NCAA D-II First Round[7]
1983–84 FIU 17–11
1984–85 FIU 22–6
1985–86 FIU 26–2 NCAA D-II First Round[7]
1986–87 FIU 21–7 NCAA D-II Second Round[7]
FIU Golden Panthers[8] (New South Women's Athletic Conference/Trans America Athletic Conference[9]) (1987–1998)
1987–88 FIU 21–7 9–3 2nd
1988–89 FIU 20–7 11–1 1st
1989–90 FIU 20–9 10–2 T–1st
1990–91 FIU 16–13 7–5 3rd
1991–92 FIU 23–10 10–2 T–1st WNIT Consolation[7]
1992–93 FIU 25–6 12–0 1st WNIT Third Place[7]
1993–94 FIU 25–4 11–1 1st NCAA D-I First Round
1994–95 FIU 27–5 15–1 1st NCAA D-I Second Round
1995–96 FIU 23–5 16–0 1st
1996–97 FIU 21–9 12–4 1st NCAA D-I First Round
1997–98 FIU 29–2 15–1 1st NCAA D-I Second Round
FIU Golden Panthers[6][10] (Sun Belt Conference) (1998–2013)
1998–99 FIU 23–7 9–3 2nd NCAA D-I First Round
1999–2000 FIU 16–13 10–6 T–3rd
2000–01 FIU 20–10 11–5 2nd (East) WNIT First Round[7]
2001–02 FIU 27–6 13–1 1st (East) NCAA D-I Second Round
2002–03 FIU 19–11 9–5 T–2nd (East) WNIT First Round[7]
2003–04 FIU 0–16* 0–9*
2004–05 FIU 18–11 7–7 4th (East)
2005–06 FIU 19–13 9–5 3rd (East) WNIT Second Round[7]
2006–07 FIU 16–14 9–9 3rd (East)
2007–08 FIU 13–18 8–10 4th (East)
2008–09 FIU 6–24 4–14 6th (East)
2009–10 FIU 14–16 9–9 T–4th (East)
2010–11 FIU 16–16 10–6 2nd (East)
2011–12 FIU 23–11 10–6 3rd (East) WNIT Second Round
2012–13 FIU 19–13 12–8 3rd (East) WNIT First Round
FIU Panthers[6] (Conference USA) (2013–2015)
2013–14 FIU 15–18 6–10 T–9th[11]
2014–15 FIU 3–13** 0–5**
Total: 707–395 (.642)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

* 2003–04 wins vacated by the NCAA; FIU originally finished 4th in the East Division.
** Partial season. Coach Russo resigned effective immediately on January 22, 2015. Interim head coach completed the season. Inge Nissen became interim head coach and went 0–13 (all in C-USA), for the team to finish 3–26 (0–18 C-USA) and in 14th place.[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ David J. Neale (January 22, 2015). "Longtime FIU women's basketball coach Cindy Russo retires". Miami Herald. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  2. ^ Tim Reynolds (Associated Press) (January 22, 2015). "Cindy Russo resigns as FIU coach". ESPN. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  3. ^ "Cindy Russo - Head Coach". Florida International University. Archived from the original on 2016-06-09.
  4. ^ "Cindy Russo". FIU. 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  5. ^ "2012–13 Women's Basketball Information Guide" (PDF). Lamar Athletics. p. 80. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  6. ^ a b c d "2015–16 Women's Basketball" (PDF). Conference USA. pp. 15–18. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i "All-time postseason results" (PDF). 2014-15 FIU Women's Basketball Media Guide. Florida International University. pp. 59–60.
  8. ^ "Yearly Standings" (PDF). 2014–15 Atlantic Sun Conference Women's Basketball Record Book. Atlantic Sun Conference. pp. 5–6. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  9. ^ "Division I Conference Champions Season-by-Season" (PDF). 2003 Women's Basketball Records Book. NCAA. p. 174. Note: From 1986–91, the conference operated as the New South Women's Athletic Conference before merging with the TAAC in 1992. Known as the Trans America Athletic Conference from 1992 to 2001
  10. ^ "2015–16 Sun Belt Conference Women's Basketball Guide". Sun Belt Conference. pp. 70–73. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  11. ^ "C-USA Standings - 2013-14". ESPN. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  12. ^ "FIU" (PDF). 2015-16 Women's Basketball. Conference USA. 2015. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-03-16.