Emily Carpenter enters her third season as the head coach of the Yellowjacket women's basketball program in 2024-25. She was named interim head coach prior to the 2022-23 season, and was officially appointed head coach following the campaign. She is the eighth coach since the program began in 1976-77.
The 2024-25 campaign saw the Yellowjackets return to the NCAA Tournament. Under Carpenter, the 'Jackets rolled through Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) action with an 11-3 mark, emerging as the No. 1 seed after being named the regular season champions. After taking down the Knights of Martin Luther in a thrilling 80-75 overtime victory, the Yellowjackets hosted Northwestern and emerged victorious 53-47, earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2017-18 season. MyKenzie Leccia was named the league's defensive player of the year, while Elise Besonen gained postseason plaudits from the UMAC.
Carpenter's second season at the helm was a successful one, leading her squad to an overall record of 18-9, highlighted by a 13-1 UMAC run. After dropping the lone league contest, the 'Jackets exploded to a 10-game winning streak, earning a berth in the UMAC Tournament as the top seed before falling in the title game. Headlining the postseason awards was Besonen, collecting both UMAC First Team and player of the year honors. Erika Mattson was tabbed with a second team slot, while Charlotte Ferstl and Leccia were named to the circuit's honorable mention and all-defensive teams, respectively. Besonen also capped her season with a 90.6 free throw percentage, which stands third across the entirety of NCAA Division III.
In her first season behind the bench, Carpenter coached the Yellowjackets to a record of 10-14, an improvement of four wins and five fewer losses over the previous season. The Yellowjackets were chosen to place sixth in the UMAC in a vote of the league's coaches, but Carpenter's Yellowjackets not only made the post-season tournament, but finished third in the regular season before falling in the conference tournament.
Carpenter returned to Superior after spending the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons as an assistant softball coach at Gustavus Adolphus.
Carpenter is no stranger to UW-Superior, having played four seasons on the Yellowjacket basketball team and two seasons with the softball team. On the hardwood, Carpenter appeared in 106 games, ranking her fifth on the program's all-time list. She made 54 starts at point guard over her final two seasons, and finished her career with 336 assists, second most in program history.
The St. Peter, Minn., native was a prolific 3-point shooter for the Yellowjackets, and ranks second all-time in three-pointers made (160) and fourth all-time in three-point field-goal percentage (.415). In 2019-20, Carpenter attempted 151 three-pointers and made 63, both the most in a single season and in program history. Carpenter was part of Yellowjacket teams that won three UMAC regular-season championships and two UMAC tournament titles. She helped the 'Jackets advance to the NCAA tournament as both a freshman and a sophomore before graduating from UW-Superior in 2020.
| Carpenter at UW-Superior |
| Year |
W |
L |
Pct. |
| 2022-23 |
10 |
14 |
.417 |
| 2023-24 |
18 |
9 |
.667 |
| 2024-25 |
17 |
11 |
.607 |
| Total |
45 |
34 |
.569 |
