The Wartburg Knights women's basketball team represents the Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, United States. The team is a member of the American Rivers Conference as well as the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The team plays its regular season games in Levick Arena, along with men's basketball, wrestling, and volleyball teams.

History Wartburg women's basketball began in 1974, under head coach Doug Johnson. The first Wartburg team finished 12–3 in 1974–75, its first victory coming against the Northern Iowa Panthers. Johnson coached only one season at Wartburg, which marked first winning season. Since Johnson Wartburg has had a total of 7 head coaches, the majority of the seasons coached by Monica Severson and current head coach Bob Amsberry.

The 2015–16 season Wartburg broke through to their first final four in school history. The unranked Knights got an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002. They would beat 3 ranked teams on their way to a regional championship and finish the season 23–8. Since that year the Knights have made it to 8 straight NCAA tournaments and two other appearances in the NCAA Final Four in 2018 and 2024.

NCAA tournament results Wartburg has appeared in 17 NCAA Tournaments with a record of 26–17.

1989 First Round Augustana (Ill) L 74−93 1990 First RoundSweet Sixteen Augustana (Ill)Buena Vista W 72–57L 63−78 1991 First Round Luther L 54−78 1992 First RoundSweet SixteenElite Eight UW-StoutSt. Benedict (MN)Luther W 90–72W 74–64L 61–70 1993 First RoundSweet SixteenElite Eight Wash U (MO)UW-WhitewaterCentral (IA) W 75–60W 83–77L 60–62 1994 First Round Aurora (IL) L 57–61 1999 First Round St Thomas L 41–67 2001 13 First RoundSecond RoundSweet SixteenElite Eight ChapmanNebraska WesleyanFontbonneWash U (MO) W 86–78W 85–71W 82–78L 71–83 2002 First Round Carleton L 61–71 2016 First RoundSecond RoundSweet SixteenElite EightFinal Four Wisconsin Lutheran#11 UW-Oshkosh#8 St. Thomas#5 Texas Tyler#7 Tufts W 65–49W 66–56W 70–66W 80–74L 50–63 2017 9 First Round Chicago L 63–67 2018 2 First RoundSecond RoundSweet SixteenElite EightFinal Four Webster#12 George Fox#7 TrineEast Texas Baptist#5 Bowdoin W 86–45W 82–58W 78–54W 65–61L 62–90 2019 11 First RoundSecond RoundSweet SixteenElite Eight Bethany Lutheran#9 Hope#13 UW-Oshkosh#2 St. Thomas (MN) W 91–63W 76–49W 70–57L 56–85 2020 5 First RoundSecond Round Monmouth#11 Whitman W 91–55L 63–67 2022 First Round Millikin L 68–81 2023 24 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #13 Baldwin Wallace#6 Hope#1 Christopher Newport W 57–43W 81–67L 51–60 2024 6 First RoundSecond RoundSweet SixteenElite Eight Final Four Wisconsin Lutheran#16 Illinois Wesleyan Bates#9 Washington and Lee #14 Smith W 72–65W 62–59W 54–53W 68–58 L 54-61 OT 2025 8 First RoundSecond Round Wisconsin–Stevens Point#5 Gustavus Adolphus W 57–56L 50–56

Head coaching records

Current coaching staff Head coach: Bob Amsberry Assistant coach: Kelli Jacobs Assistant coach: Justin Little Athletic trainer: Jessica Albright

Head coaching history

As of the completion of 2025 season Tenure Coach Years Record Pct. 1974-1975 Doug Johnson 1 12–3–0 1975–1976 Marge Schaffer 1 11–11–0 1976–1978 Cheryl Wren 2 29-14-0 1978-1981 Nancy Schley 3 32–41–0 1981-1988 Kathy Meyer Thomas 7 64–86–0 1988-2006 Monica Severson 18 335–131–0 2006 Kathy Franken 1† 1–7–0 2006–present Bob Amsberry 18 387–135–0 Totals 7 coaches 51 seasons 880-427–0 † Kathy Franken served as the interim head coach for the end of the 2005–2006 season following the departure of Monica Severson.

Individual awards

National Awards

National AwardsYearPlayerType 2025-26 Katie Boulanger DIII Rookie of the Year

Conference Awards

Conference AwardsYearPlayerType 1989-90 Kathy Smith Most Valuable Player 1991-92 Kathy Roberts Most Valuable Player 2000-01 Holly Mohs Most Valuable Player 2000-02 Holly Mohs Most Valuable Player 2010-11 Samantha Harrington Most Valuable Player 2011-12 Leslie Wilson Defensive Player of the Year 2016-17 Katie Sommer Most Valuable Player 2017-18 Katie Sommer Most Valuable Player 2018-19 Emma Gerdes Most Valuable Player 2019-20 Emma Gerdes Most Valuable Player 2022-23 Sara Faber Most Valuable Player 2023-24 Jaedon Murphy Most Valuable Player 2024-25 Sara Faber Defensive Player of the Year 2025-26 Katie Boulanger Rookie of the Year

References

External links