Denison University

Maureen Hirt enters her fifth season as Head Coach of the Denison University women's basketball program in 2026-27, following a historically successful 2025-26 season, in which the team achieved a program-record 30 wins and culminated in the program’s first NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball National Championship.

After going 30-2 and leading the Big Red to their first NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball National Championship Title, Hirt achieved significant recognition. She was named a finalist for the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) NCAA Division III Coach of the Year award for the 2025-26 season, received the D3hoops.com Region 7 Coach of the Year honor, and saw two of her players, Abby Cooch and Ada Taute, earn All-American status.

Denison started the season unranked in the national preseason polls and was predicted to finish second in the conference after ending the 2024-25 season 15-11. To kick off 2025-26, the Big Red went on a 17-0 run, marking its best start since the 2010-11 season. Building on this momentum, Denison earned the No. 1 seed and the right to host the NCAC tournament after finishing conference play 12-1. Although the Big Red lost in the Semifinals of the NCAC tournament, that would be their last defeat of the season. Denison then advanced to its eighth NCAA tournament appearance, winning all but one tournament game by double digits. On their way to the title, the Big Red took down two unbeaten squads and became the first NCAC team to win the national championship since DePauw in 2013.

Following a 20-win season, Hirt was a finalist for the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association NCAA Division III Coach of the Year award in 2023-24. Hirt was recognized as the D3hoops.com Region 7 Coach of the Year and the Big Red staff was honored as North Coast Athletic Conference Coaching Staff of the Year after helping Denison double its win total from the season prior. The 20 wins marked the most for the Big Red since the 2015-16 season. 

In 14 conference games, the Big Red were the most efficient behind the arc in NCAC play, shooting .340 (87-of-256) and ranked in the top-four in scoring (66.1 ppg), field-goal percentage (.420; 349-of-831), and assists (14.43 apg). The Denison defense also ranked in the top-four against conference foes in five defensive categories, producing a league-high 68 blocked shots (4.86 bpg), ranking second in opponent field-goal percentage (.346), defensive rebounds (27.2 rpg) and steals (9.29 spg) and fourth in opponent scoring (55.5 ppg). First-year guard Abby Cooch was named the 2023-24 NCAC Newcomer of the Year. In addition, Cooch was named First-Team All-NCAC while fellow-freshman guard Ada Taute was named to the All-NCAC Third Team.

In its first year under the guidance of Coach Hirt in 2022-23, Denison women's basketball finished the season 10-16 overall and 5-9 in the North Coast Athletic Conference while earning the No. 5 seed for the conference tournament. Senior post player Mikaila Carpenter was named Second-Team All-NCAC after leading the Big Red with 12.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, all while shooting 52.3 percent (137-262) from the field.

Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics Nan Carney-DeBord announced Hirt as the eighth Head Women’s Basketball Coach in Denison WBB history on June 15, 2022. Hirt replaced Sara Lee, who stepped down in April after a 33-year tenure leading the Big Red. Hirt came to Denison after spending the previous season as the Associate Head Coach at Oberlin College, her third year on staff as an assistant for the Yeowomen.

At Oberlin, Hirt helped lead the Yeowomen to one of the most successful seasons in program history in 2021-22 as the squad finished 21-4 overall and 13-3 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, tying the program record for overall wins and conference wins in a season. The Yeowomen got off to the best start in program history at 8-0, went undefeated in non-conference play at 7-0, and qualified as the No. 2 seed for the NCAC Tournament, the highest seed in program history. The team shot a conference-best 43.4 percent from the field and ranked 18th in the nation in assists per game at 17.4. Hirt helped coach three all-conference players in 2021-22, including the NCAC Newcomer of the Year in Camille Zinaich.
During her second year at Oberlin, Hirt was one of 10 Tara VanDerveer fellows across the country to be a part of the 2020 cohort for the Women’s Sports Foundation’s advancement of women in coaching.

Hirt was also a Co-Advisor for the Oberlin Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), working with Oberlin’s SAAC officers to help guide and coordinate events both on and off campus such as Play Like A Girl, Black History Month SAAC Celebration, D-III Week, and more.

Hirt is the Co-Founder and Owner of Ohio Champion Basketball (OCB), a basketball skills and performance training company in Cincinnati, Ohio. Since November of 2015, OCB has trained athletes from the middle school to professional level. Hirt began her coaching career as the Guardian Angels eighth grade boys’ head basketball coach, a position she held for four seasons from October 2014-February 2018.

Hirt graduated cum laude from Kenyon College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and economics in May 2014. She was a four-year member and two-time team captain of the women’s basketball team where she helped Kenyon advance to four North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) tournaments. The 2014 North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Hirt was a four-time All-NCAC player and three-time first-team all-conference selection, and is still the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,819 career points. After her senior season, she was recognized as a D3 Women’s News Third-Team All-American and first-team all-region performer, along with being a third-team all-region selection in 2012. As a junior in 2013, Hirt led all of Division III in free-throw percentage at 92.3%. Hirt was named the 2014 Kenyon Female Athlete of the Year and was Kenyon’s 2014 Pam Smith Award nominee, which also serves as a nomination for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.

Hirt received the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and earned her master’s degree in marketing from the University of Cincinnati Carl H. Linder School of Business in June 2018.
 

Hirt at Denison
Year	Season at DU	Overall Record	Conference Finish/Accolades
2022-23	1st	10-16	5th NCAC
2023-24	2nd	20-7	4th NCAC WBCA NCAA Division III Coach of the Year Finalist D3hoops.com Region 7 Coach of the Year NCAC Coaching Staff of the Year
2024-25	3rd	15-11	3rd NCAC
2025-26	4th	30-2	1st NCAC (NCAC Regular Season Champions) 3rd in the NCAC Tournament Earned the Big Red's first NCAA 2nd Round Win Lead Denison to its first NCAA Div. III National Championship Title
Overall		75-36 (.675 pct.)	NCAC Regular-Season Champions One NCAA Division III Women's Basketball National Championship Title