Head coach Brittany Lange enters her seventh season as the head coach for the Mavericks and ninth with the program overall. Lange came to Omaha at the start of its Division I era (2012-13), and became the youngest head coach in all of Division I basketball in 2013-14.
The eighth head coach in Maverick women’s basketball history, she ranks third all-time in school history with 73 career victories, behind only Cherri Mankenberg (345) and Patty Patton Shearer (102).
In her first four years, Lange saw her program progressively improve each season. The team moved over 150 spots in the RPI since the transition to Division I. Off the court, her team led the athletic department in community service the last four years. She also spearheaded the “Maverick Mentors” program, which is the only program of its kind in women’s basketball that features key female community leaders in Omaha. Her program also won two NCAA Public Recognition Awards, which put Omaha as a team in the top-10 percent for academic progress success.
Lange coached the first Omaha women's basketball player to reach 1,800 points, 900 rebounds and 310 assists for a career in Mikaela Shaw (2013-17). Shaw also garnered All-Summit Second Team honors as a senior and also earned three-straight Marian Ivers Female Athlete of the Year award and was named a CoSIDA Third Team Academic All-American.
Throughout her Maverick coaching career, Lange has guided nine players to All-Summit honors, which includes six different post players. She also coached a Summit League Defensive Player of the Year (Taijhe Kelly) and two CoSIDA Academic All-America honorees (Paige Frauendorfer, Mikaela Shaw).
Omaha continued its upward trend in Lange's fourth season, finishing 16-15 overall and 8-8 in Summit League action. The Mavericks made their first appearance in the Preseason WNIT and picked up an 85-57 win over North Texas. Omaha took an 83-82 victory over South Dakota State on Jan. 28, 2017. The Mavericks qualified for its second Summit League Tournament in Sioux Fall, S.D. and upset No. 4 seed South Dakota 64-58 in the quarterfinals before falling to top-seeded Western Illinois in the semis. The eight conference wins also marked the most in program history since the transition to Division I.
The Mavericks became one of the best shooting teams in the country in Lange's fourth season. Omaha ranked 12th nationally in 3-pointers per game (8.4), 18th in assists per game (16.6) and 19th in 3-point field goal percentage (35.6 percent). UNO ranked second in the Summit League in assists per game, field goal percentage, field goals made per game and 3-pointers made per game. Omaha's defense held the opposition to 60 points or less 13 times in 2016-17 and kept seven teams under 50 points.
In her second year, Lange continued to diagram a top-ranked defense. During Summit League play, Omaha ranked first in the league in opponents' field goal percentage (38.8) for the second straight year, while also ranking second in blocked shots (5.1) and third in steals per game (7.4). Omaha allowed the fourth-fewest points per game (66.3) during Summit League play and ended the season with a dominating defensive display limiting Denver to 40 points.
Lange and her staff established themselves as one of the toughest Summit League defenses to face throughout the 2013-14 season. The Mavs ranked first in the league in opponents' field goal percentage (37.8) and third in opponents' 3-point percentage (30.7). They also allowed the third-fewest points per game (66.4) and blocked a Summit League-best 4.8 blocks per game while finishing second in steals per game (8.2). Additionally, Taijhe Kelly was named Summit League Defensive Player of the Year and Mikaela Shaw was named to the All-Newcomer Team. Senior guard Ericka House was named All-Summit League Second Team as well.
Under Lange's direction, the Mavericks accomplished a first in their NCAA Division I transition - defeating a team that went on to make the NCAA Tournament. UNO achieved that feat with a 69-61 win over South Dakota on Feb. 20, 2014, at the Sapp Fieldhouse.
Lange was integral to the Mavericks' success in their first two Division I seasons. As an assistant coach, Lange oversaw Omaha's guards and their position development, and in her first year as an assistant coach in 2012-13, all three of the Mavericks' backcourt players were awarded Summit League All-Conference honors: Paige Frauendorfer, Carolyn Blair-Mobley and Jamie Nash. Frauendorfer was also named an Academic All-American, one of 15 Division I players to receive such an honor.
Lange joined the Mavericks in 2011-12 as the director of basketball operations, after spending the previous year as a graduate assistant coach at St. Edward's in Austin, Texas under two-time National Champion head coach, Jennifer White. In addition to being an instructor for Point Guard College in 2008, where she served as a coach and trainer to some of the top Division I point guards and players in the nation.
She started her collegiate playing career at Creighton University in 2005-06, before transferring to Iowa State for the 2006-07 season. A former guard on four NCAA Tournament teams at Iowa State with an overall record of 98-37, Lange was a part of one of the most successful classes in Cyclone history. She spent 2008-10 on legendary Head Coach Bill Fennelly's staff.
Lange helped assist the Cyclones in reaching the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight in 2009 against Stanford and the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2010 against the undefeated UConn Huskies, after reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament the previous two years as a player. She also served as a strength and conditioning intern for Iowa State men's and women's basketball for Iowa State.
A native of Sac City Iowa, Lange earned her degree in kinesiology from Iowa State. She also comes from a rich basketball family, where her mother, father, brother, and grandfather all played collegiately. She is engaged to Ryan McKim.
