In just her first season on North Broad Street, Tonya Cardoza has made quite an impact on the Temple women's basketball team, the Philadelphia Big Five and the collegiate women's basketball community. After leading the Owls to their sixth straight NCAA Tournament and Big Five crown, Cardoza was named the Big Five Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the national rookie coach of the year award.

After spending 14 years as an assistant coach at the University of Connecticut under Hall of Fame Coach Geno Auriemma, a tenure in which she helped the Huskies to five National Championships, few doubted that Cardoza had knew what it takes to build a successful program. The Roxbury, Mass. native did not disappoint, leading the Owls to a 21-10 mark and the NCAA Tournament in her first season as a head coach. She coached the squad to a second place finish in the Atlantic 10, after winning nine of the last 10 regular season games, including an upset #13 Xavier, making Cardoza the first coach in TU women's basketball history to upset a ranked team in her rookie season.

Cardoza was instrumental in All-Conference selection LaKeisha Eaddy's transition to point guard, nearly helping the upperclassman set a new single season record for assists.

Since arriving at Connecticut at the start of the 1994-95 season, Cardoza has helped guide the Huskies to an unprecedented 465-41 record, seven Final Four appearances and six No. 1 National Rankings in the final Associated Press poll. Cardoza has been part of four separate undefeated regular seasons, including two unbeaten national championship teams in 1994-95 and 2001-02. The Huskies also won a NCAA record 70 consecutive games from 2001 to 2003. In Big East play, the team has won 12 regular season titles and 12 conference tournament championships.

Cardoza worked primarily with the guards at UConn, producing numerous All-America and All-BIG EAST performers including WNBA stars Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi and most recently, the 2005-06 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, Renee Montgomery.

A 1991 University of Virginia graduate with a degree in anthropology, Cardoza starred for the Cavaliers, leading the team to four consecutive NCAA National Tournament appearances. As a senior, she led Virginia in scoring (15.5 ppg), and tied Staley for the rebounding lead (6.1 rpg) while earning the following honors: Kodak Honorable Mention All-America; Kodak First Team All-District III; First Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference; NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team; and NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team. She was also a First Team All-ACC pick in 1988-89. Cardoza played in 121 games for UVA and graduated ranked fifth on the school's career blocked shots list (110), third on the career steals list (375), eighth in points (1,6220) and 10th in rebounds (667).

Cardoza played professional basketball in Sergovia, Spain before taking the job at Connecticut.

What They're Saying About Tonya Cardoza:

"Tonya will be a great coach at Temple. She has an amazing way of communicating with her players and knows the game of basketball as well as anyone...And she was a big part of the great guards we had at UCONN!"

-Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury and member of the 2008 United States Women's Basketball Olympic Team

"Tonya was always the calming effect for me--someone who I knew always had my back and who always knew how to get the best out of me. She was definitely a key reason why I was able to be so successful in college. She's also a very wonderful person."

-Sue Bird, Seattle Storm and member of the 2008 United States Women's Basketball Olympic Team

"Temple hired a gem in Tonya. She is someone who will make an immediate impact with the players, program and my beloved city. I feel truly happy Temple has given Tonya the opportunity to be a head coach. She's ready. Watch out Atlantic 10!"

-Dawn Staley, head women's basketball coach at South Carolina and former teammate at Virginia

"Temple could not have chosen a better coach to build on the foundation that Dawn Staley established than Tonya Cardoza. Tonya is one of the finest assistants in the game today and it will not take long for her to put her signature on the Temple program."

-Debbie Ryan, head women's basketball coach at Virginia

"I have always said that we have the best staff in the country and Tonya has been a big part of that. Tonya has been here 14 years, long enough to have contributed to all the championships and to develop some of the best players to ever play at this level. Tonya will be a great head coach and the staff at Temple is going to love her."

-Geno Auriemma, head women's basketball coach at the University of Connecticut