Entering her tenth season at the helm of a program she was once a part of as a player, Miami head coach Maria Fantanarosa approaches the 2007-08 season as the program's all-time winningest coach.

Since returning to her alma mater as head coach prior to the 1998-99 season, Fantanarosa has guided a resurgent program to six winning seasons in the past eight years, including two Mid-American Conference East Division crowns and the 2003-04 MAC Championship.

During a trying 2005-06 campaign that was defined by injuries and an extremely young roster that derived more than 75 percent of its minutes from freshmen and sophomores, Fantanarosa laid the groundwork for the beginning of a promising future. According to Director of Athletics Brad Bates, who extended Fantanarosa's contract through 2011 following the season, the RedHawk mentor continues to head her program in the right direction.

"Maria Fantanarosa has built a successful and well-rounded women's basketball program that is a source of pride for our University," Bates said. "She has consistently recruited and graduated top-notch student-athletes who have kept the program among the most respected in the MAC and the region. Whether you are talking about graduation rates, academic performance, an impressive history of community service or competing year in and year out for the MAC title, Coach Fantanarosa has crafted her program into a complete experience for the women involved. "

A fiery competitor as both a player and a coach for the Red and White, Fantanarosa has been instrumental in directing the dramatic turnaround of a program that was coming off its first losing season in 10 years when she was hired in the summer of 1998.

Critical to the program's success has been an impressive recruiting effort that has brought four of the program's top seven career scorers and three of the top eight career rebounders to campus during her short tenure. Under her tutelage, Miami has produced 38 MAC Players of the Week, 13 all-MAC selections and four MAC All-Freshman honorees.

Since the 2000-01 season, Miami has been one of the most consistent powers in the Mid-American Conference, winning an impressive 75 games, finishing among the top three in the MAC East in all but two seasons and winning at least one game in six of a possible eight MAC Tournaments. Though the finished product is impressive, the road was not easy for Fantanarosa and the RedHawks.

Hired too late to recruit a freshman class for her inaugural season at Miami, Fantanarosa guided her first Miami team, which relied heavily on walk-ons, to a surprising 11-15 record and laid the groundwork for the blue collar style of play her teams would become known for.

Miami returned to its winning ways during Fantanarosa's second season, as a talented freshman class brought new life to the program. The Red and White finished second in the MAC's East Division that season, compiling a 16-12 overall record and earning passage into the MAC Quarterfinals.

With another strong recruiting class in place, Fantanarosa guided the 2000-01 RedHawks to an 18-11 record, including a 10-6 mark in the conference. Miami put an exclamation point on the season with a thrilling upset of Ball State in the MAC Quarterfinals and made its return to the MAC Semifinals for the first time in five years.

The impact of Fantanarosa's recruiting efforts was felt over the next two seasons, as Miami posted 36 wins and claimed the program's first MAC East Title in 2002-03. Heather Cusick was named MAC Player of the Year in 2001-02 and finished her career as Miami's all-time leading scorer.

The pinnacle arrived in 2003-04, when Miami shocked the league by reeling off 12 straight wins in the heart of the MAC season and capturing the overall MAC Championship. Miami went on to make the program's first appearance in the Postseason WNIT, advancing to the second round, and senior Colleen Day became Miami's first CoSIDA Academic All-American, notching second-team honors.

In her nine seasons, Fantanarosa's Miami squads have battled to a 138-122 (.531) overall record and 79-65 (.549) league mark. She enters this as the program's all-time winningest coach.

Ranked among the MAC's Top 10 in career league wins, Fantanarosa also has the longest tenure of any Miami women's basketball coach.

A two-time all-MAC selection while a player at Miami, Fantanarosa finished her career in fourth place and currently ranks 13th on Miami's all-time scoring list with 1,086 points. She also placed her name in among Miami's career top 10 with her 323 career assists.

Fantanarosa became the seventh head coach at Miami after serving as head coach at Western Carolina in 1997-98.

Prior to Western Carolina, Fantanarosa was the top assistant at South Carolina for three seasons. Before her work with the Gamecocks, she was the number one assistant at Xavier, where the Musketeers won the Midwestern Collegiate Conference regular season title in 1991-92 and the conference tournament title one year later.

A native of Kulpmont, Pa., Fantanarosa earned her bachelor's degree in speech communication with a minor in coaching science from Miami in 1990 and a master's degree in sport administration from Xavier in 1993. She is married to Tim Morrow and has two daughters, Lauren and Allison.

During a prolific prep career at Mt. Carmel Area High School, Fantanarosa set Pennsylvania state records for most points in a career by a male or female (3,823) and most points in a single season (1,318). She was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in the fall of 2005. Nationally, Fantanarosa's career point total ranks her among the Top 10 highest scorers in high school girls basketball history.