The Wheeling women’s basketball team has promoted Ella Skeens to assistant women’s basketball coach.

Skeens joined the Cardinals as an assistant coach in the summer of 2023 and was instrumental in helping the Wheeling women’s basketball team to a successful season and reach the quarterfinals of the Mountain East Conference tournament in the 2023-24 season.

“I am extremely excited to take on the role of assistant coach,” said Skeens. The past year as an assistant coach under the guidance of Coach Kowalska has been instrumental in my development as a coach. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to continue to contribute to the success of the program in this new role.”

Skeens, a native of Chillicothe, Ohio, assisted the Cardinals in all aspects of the program last season, including recruiting, scouting, day-to-day operations and player development. Wheeling finished the 2023-24 season with a record of 18-11, the program’s best season since the 2016-17 MEC championship team.

“I am so happy for Ella,” Kowalska said. “She deserves this. She is a very hard worker who brings a lot of energy to our team every day. She has a bright future as a coach and we are excited for her to take on this new role. This is a great day for our team and our program. We are grateful this has come to fruition.”

Skeens entered the coaching career after a successful playing career that included stints at the University of Dayton, Ball State University and Rio Grande University. In her final two seasons at Rio Grande, she led the Red Storm to back-to-back conference championships and national tournament appearances. She was named the conference’s Player of the Year in each of those seasons. She was also named an NAIA All-American. Skeens has a degree in social sciences from Rio Grande and is currently pursuing her MBA in Wheeling.

Tag: T2 – The second day Mountain East