MIAMI (July 29, 2019) - With the FIU women's basketball team gearing up to begin its season in the fall, the Panthers and head coach Tiara Malcom have announced the hiring of Brianna Finch as an assistant coach on Monday. 

Finch joins the FIU staff after spending the past three seasons with the Barry University basketball team as an assistant coach.

"I am thrilled that Brianna is joining my staff here at FIU," head coach Tiara Malcom said. "She has extensive coaching experience at many different levels, and has experienced success too. Her coaching background and knowledge of the game stood out to me right away during the hiring process. Brianna's deep international recruiting ties as well as her ability to connect with student athletes only serve to make every person in this program better."

Finch, who is an El Dorado Hills, California native, is the latest addition for the Panthers coaching staff ahead of the 2019-20 season.  

"I'm excited to return to the Division I level and join coach Malcom and the FIU family," Finch said. "I am thankful for the opportunity to work for Coach Malcom, who has had great success as both a player and coach at this level. I believe in Coach Malcom and her vision for FIU Women's Basketball, and can't wait to get to work." 

Finch's impact on the Barry women's basketball program was quickly felt, as she helped lead the Bucs to the largest single season win improvement in all of NCAA Division II in just her second season as an assistant. The Bucs saw their scoring offense increase from 57.2 points per game to 70.1 points per contest, and offensive field goal percentage improve from 38% to 44%. During the 2017-18 season Barry led the conference in 3-point field goal % and 3-pointers made per game.
 
As recruiting coordinator at Barry University, Finch helped bring in All-SSC First Team selection Ida Andersson and All-Newcomer Team selection Nichel Tampa. Additionally, signed players from the U16/U18 English National Team, an Australian Youth Division MVP, an Italian National League (Serie A1) player, and a Norwegian National Team Selection.

During her two seasons as the head coach at NMHU, the team had four players named All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference: Jenny Johnson (2014-15) and Michelle Traynham (2015-16) were named to the second team and Angelina Sanchez (2014-15) and Giulia Simioni (2015-16) were honorable mention. The Cowgirls also posted a team GPA above 3.0 and had eight players selected as Academic All-RMAC.

Finch took over as women's basketball coach with the Cowgirls after more than a decade of coaching experience at the junior college and NCAA levels as well as spending time overseas. She spent the 2013-14 season as the head coach of the Lemvig Basketball Club in Denmark, competing in the Danish Professional League, leading them to the semifinals.

Prior to being an assistant from 2011-2013 at Salt Lake Community College, where she also served as an academic advisor and handled correspondence between the players and four-year institutions, Finch was a Division I assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at UC Irvine. While with the Anteaters, she was in charge recruiting, individual player development, and opponent scouting.

Finch coached and served as the recruiting coordinator at Division II powerhouse UC San Diego during the 2007-08, season where the Tritons were 25-10 overall. She was the head ladies basketball coach at Griffith College in Dublin, Ireland from 2006-07. Before traveling abroad, Finch assisted and served as the recruiting coordinator at Menlo College in 2005-06, helping the team to a Cal-Pac Championship and a Sweet 16 appearance at the NAIA II National Tournament.

Prior to Menlo College, Finch spent one year as the head coach at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon. She took the job at Mt. Hood after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Santa Rosa Junior College. At Santa Rosa, Finch developed three all-state post players who powered the Bearcubs to the NAIA Elite Eight in 2004.  

She began her collegiate career at the University of Portland (1998-2000) before finishing her career at Sonoma State. A graduate of Oak Ridge High in El Dorado Hills, Calif., where she was an All-CIF player and the school's all-time leading scorer, Finch co-authored the book Championship Basketball Plays and been published in Basketball Sense Magazine.
 
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