Lori Gear McBride, who helped win a national championship as a player at the University of North Carolina, enters her fifth season as head women's basketball coach at Colby College in the 2009-10 academic year.

In four seasons as head coach at Colby, McBride has redefined the foundation of the program, placing a heavy emphasis on academic success and athletic growth in the program. The Mules have made the NESCAC Tournament in three of her four seasons. In addition, the women's basketball program has posted one of the highest team GPA's at Colby in each of the last four seasons. A strong recruiter, Gear McBride has attracted some of the most talented - academically and athletically - student-athletes to the program over the past four years and is prepared to lead Colby to the same success she enjoyed as a player.

Gear McBride has plenty of experience as an assistant coach at the Division I level. She spent five years as an assistant coach at Seton Hall University (1998-2003), including two years as assistant head coach. Gear McBride also was an assistant at University of North Carolina-Charlotte during the 2003-04 season.

Gear McBride returned to New Jersey four years ago after the season at UNC-Charlotte to take the basketball head coaching position at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School. She led the team to a 24-5 record, a berth in the state playoffs and the Union County championship. Three of her players continued their careers at the Division I level.

Gear McBride, who was born in Montreal and grew up in Lennoxville, Quebec, has a master's degree in corporate and public communications from Seton Hall. She earned a bachelor's degree in education from North Carolina.

Gear McBride was one of two first-year students to play for the Tar Heels' 1994 national championship team. UNC won the title when Charlotte Smith hit a 3-point shot at the buzzer to beat Louisiana Tech in one of the NCAA’s most exciting finishes in sport history.

Gear McBride played on three Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championship teams in her four years and was a co-captain during her junior and senior seasons and played for the Canadian National Team in 1995 at the World University Games.

Gear McBride, who was on the ACC Athletic Honor Roll all four years at North Carolina, played professional basketball in Portugal in 1997. She and her husband Pat, a 1997 Colby graduate, reside in Winthrop with their two children.

Assistant Coaches

Christine Clancy begins her second season as assistant coach with the Colby women's basketball team for the 2009-10 academic year.

Clancy came to Colby after spending two years as a full-time assistant basketball coach at Smith College. She also earned her master's degree from Smith in sports and exercise studies.

Clancy, a native of Yarmouth, Maine, had an Exercise and Sports Studies Teaching Fellow while at Smith. She taught physical conditioning, beginning and intermediate tennis, and beginning and intermediate golf. Clancy also was an athletic administrative intern in the summer of 2007 and supervised Smith's fitness center. She was an assistant director of the Smith College Basketball Camp in 2006 and 2007.

Clancy earned her bachelor's degree from Brandeis University in 2006. She was a University Athletic Association All-Conference first-team selection in women's basketball in 2006 and made the second team in 2005. Clancy was a team captain her senior year and earned the Coach's Award in 2004 and 2005.

Clancy also played women's tennis during her time at Brandeis.