Bernadette Laukaitis recently concluded her 10th season as an assistant coach with the Penn women's basketball team in 2018-19. Laukaitis has been staple for Head Coach Mike McLaughlin, formerly playing under and coaching with McLaughlin at Holy Family, before arriving to West Philadelphia with him a decade ago.
In the past six seasons, Laukaitis has helped guide the Quakers to six consecutive 20-win campaigns (the only Ivy League team to do so in that time range), including seven of the eight winningest seasons in program history, the program's first two Big 5 titles, four Ivy League championships and three NCAA Tournament berths.
Laukaitis works primarily with the Penn's guard unit, including the starting trio of Kendall Grasela, Ashley Russell and Phoebe Sterba as part of Penn's 2018-19 Ivy League championship squad. Russell finished the year as a second-team All-Ivy selection, tied for the conference's best assist/turnover ratio with teammate Grasela. Sharp-shooting Sterba recorded 75 made 3-pointers on the year, the second most in a single season in program history.
Recently, Laukaitis proved vital in developing 2018 graduate Anna Ross into a three-time All-Ivy selection, becoming the program's all-time assists leader. Ross consistently proved herself as one of the biggest playmakers in the conference and finished each year of her career ranked in the top-three in the Ivies in assists. Laukaitis also led Kathleen Roche to become the school's single-season leader in three-point percentage en route to honorable mention All-Ivy status as she finished with the highest three-point percentage (.429) in program history in 2014-15.
During the 2013-14 championship season, Laukaitis guided Alyssa Baron, who went on to win Ivy League and Big 5 Player of the Year honors. Baron finished her senior season among the top 10 in the Ivy League in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and free throw percentage, and second all-time at Penn in career scoring. In addition, Meghan McCullough led the Ivy League in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio in her first season under Coach Laukaitis.
Prior to that, Laukaitis worked primarily with Penn's forwards. Under her guidance, Jess Knapp, in her rookie season, finished in the top 10 of the Ivy League in offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding and blocked shots. Knapp also ranked fifth and sixth in the school record book for blocks in a season and ranked fourth all-time in career blocks. In 2012-13, Kara Bonenberger and Courtney Wilson finished first and second in the Ivy League in blocks, respectively.
Serving briefly as head coach Cabrini in 2008-09, Laukaitis led the Cavaliers to just their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. In her only season at the helm of the program, Cabrini finished with 23-5 overall - the most wins for the program since the 1994-95 season, won the conference regular season title with a record of 15-1, and won the conference tournament.
During Laukaitis’ tenure at Holy Family, the Tigers advanced to eight national postseason tournaments, including five NCAA Tournaments and three NAIA Tournaments. Holy Family captured five Central Athletic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Tournament championships and eight regular season crowns. In 2007-08, the Tigers recorded a 32-1 overall record, finished the season ranked No. 4 nationally and advanced to the NCAA Northeast Region final as the top seed.
Laukaitis helped orchestrate eight 25-win teams, including five squads that eclipsed the 30-win plateau. The Tigers boasted a 234-27 overall mark with Laukaitis on the sideline, winning 64 consecutive games in CACC play. In conference play, Holy Family became the first program in CACC history to record three consecutive undefeated seasons from 2005-08.
Laukaitis’ coaching career took shape as a student-athlete at Holy Family, playing point guard for the Tigers (1996-2000). She led a program ranked in the Top 25 in each of her four seasons, including a No. 1 national ranking at the conclusion of the 1998 regular season. A three-year team captain, Laukaitis was named the Small College Player of the Year in 2000 by the Northeast News Gleaner.
Laukaitis received a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education from Holy Family in 2000. She, her husband Joseph, their son, Joseph Jr., and their daughter, Casey, reside in Philadelphia.
