TIFFIN, Ohio -- Former Christopher Newport assistant women's basketball coach Rachel Ferri has been named the head coach at Heidelberg University after spending the last two years with the nationally-ranked Captains. 

Ferri helped guide Christopher Newport to back-to-back Capital Athletic Conference championships along with consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 as well. The Captains were still playing in the Sweet 16 this season with an opportunity to advance further when the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

As an integral part of head coach Bill Broderick's coaching staff for the last two years, the Captains featured a pair of the best offensive units in program history, scoring the third (2018-19) and sixth (2019-20) most points in a single season. Christopher Newport shattered the previous record for three-pointers made in a season in her first year, with 246 triples dropped, and posted the second best mark in program history this season with 199. On the defensive end, the Captains posted a pair of top-ten efforts in steals including the fifth most in a single year during the 18-19 campaign. 

Over the past two seasons, the Captains recorded an overall record of 50-10 for a winning percentage of over 83%. Even more impressively, the Captains registered the first unbeaten conference season in Capital Athletic Conference history since 2011-12 when they went 10-0 this season, which was also the first undefeated conference regular season for the Captains since 2009-10. Over her two seasons, Ferri helped guide Christopher Newport to a 21-3 CAC record, good for an 87.4% winning percentage in league play. 

The Captains were ranked as high as 11th in the D3hoops.com Top-25 and concluded each of her two seasons ranked in the final top-25 of the year. Also a consistent player in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) National Rankings, Ferri and the Captains finished 2018-19 ranked No. 12 nationally and were ranked in the poll for the majority of her tenure. 

Prior to arriving at Christopher Newport, Ferri served as a graduate assistant coach at Springfield College, the birthplace of basketball, and helped lead the team to back-to-back 20-win seasons. She also served three years as a member of the staff at Rhode Island College. A 2013 graduate of Catholic University, Ferri becomes the 10th head coach in the history of Heidelberg women's basketball.
 
Ferri takes over a Heidelberg program that posted a 8-17 record in 2019-20, including a 4-14 mark in the Ohio Athletic Conference.