University of Wisconsin-River Falls

Cindy Holbrook returns to the 2017-18 Falcons as head coach and brings several seasons of experience in coaching and playing in the WIAC.

During the 2016-17 Season she led the Falcons to a 9-18 overall record, while going 3-11 in conference play.

Holbrook led the 2015-16 Falcons to a 23-6 overall record and 12-2 in the WIAC to win the regular season championship.  The Falcons advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament which they hosted at the Karges Center.

Holbrook took a very young team in 2013-14 (two sophmores, 12 freshmen) and molded it into a solid unit that played well in the highly competitive WIAC.
 

In 2012-13 the Falcons finished 14-12 overall and 8-8 and in fifth place in the WIAC standings. 

Holbrook led the 2011-12 Falcons to a 21-7 overall record and the team’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the 1994-95 season.  The 21 wins are the most by a Falcon team since the 1988-89 team had 23. It was only the third 20+ win season in team history.  UWRF finished 12-4 in WIAC play and finished in third place.  The third place finish is the second time in the past three years that the Falcons have had at least a third-place finish in the WIAC standings.

UWRF started the 2011-12 season with a 11-game winning streak.  The Falcons advanced to the WIAC playoffs and won a first round game before losing in the semifinals.  The Falcons earned an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Holbrook led the 2009-10 squad to an 18-7 overall record and a third place finish in the WIAC with a 10-6 record.  The team had a four-game improvement from the 2008-09 season.  The team had its best winning percentage since the 1988-89 season.

Holbrook ranks ninth in all-time career wins among all-time coaches in the WIAC and is currently fifth among active coaches in the conference.  She reached a coaching milestone on Dec. 11, 2007 in a 67-54 win over Martin Luther for her 100th career win.  She is currently 226-192 at UWRF. Her .541 winning percentage is second best in school history.

As a passionate coach, Holbrook inspires growth and potential in her student-athletes. “Whether it is in the classroom or on the basketball floor, being a well-balanced person is what competing and being a student-athlete at the Div. III level is all about,” said Holbrook. “We challenge kids to be prepared and give 100 percent every day. That’s the only way to learn what each of us is really capable of.  Our daily performance determines our opportunity for success, that’s why our team motto is “Success is a choice.”
 

Holbrook has coached 32 women to All-WIAC honors during her career.  Tiffany Gregorich, who played her final season in 2011-12, was named to the first All-WIAC team for three straight years and she earned honorable mention to the 2009 team.  The guard was named a DIII News pre-season All-American and to the 2012 D3Hoops.com third All-Central region team.

Holbrook’s experience in the WIAC began as a student-athlete at UW-Stout where she was a two-time All-WIAC first team selection in 1993 and 1994.  Her senior season she was named the 1994 WIAC Player of the Year and earned All-American honors.  She was inducted into the UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame in November 2005.  She is the only person who has been named a WIAC Coach of the Year (2001) and WIAC Player of the Year (1994).

Holbrook earned her psychology undergraduate degree and coaching minor from UW-Stout.  She completed her master’s degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in sport psychology and sociology at the University of Minnesota.  She currently teaches in the UWRF health & human performance department.