UCSB’s search for a new women’s basketball coach was narrowed down this week to two candidates – Kirsten Moore, the head coach at Westmont College, and Carlene Mitchell, associate head coach at Rutgers University. Gauchos athletic director Mark Massari has said he wants to name the final selection on Thursday.

The two women both have appealing resumes.

Moore: Native of the Golden State; experience as a player and assistant coach at two Pac-10 schools, Oregon and UC Berkeley; along with former UCSB assistant Camille Burkes she brought a blue-chip recruiting class to California; has spent six years as Westmont coach, achieving five straight winning records and four berths in the NAIA National Tournament; has done outreach into the Santa Barbara community as Westmont’s associate athletic director.

Mitchell: Longtime resident of the Garden State; played at two junior colleges before finishing as point guard at Kansas State; quickly rose in the coaching ranks to become assistant at Rutgers in 2001; appeared with the Scarlet Knights in the NCAA Tournament nine consecutive years, reaching the championship game in 2007; as Rutgers’ recruiting coordinator, she landed two Parade All-Americans in the 2011 class; has been Vivian Stringer’s associate head coach the last three years.

UCSB’s vacancy was created when Lindsay Gottlieb departed to become head women’s coach at Cal. Gottlieb coached the Gauchos for three years following the retirement of Mark French. French, a UCSB alumnus, coached the Gaucho women for 21 years, during which they became perennial winners and one of the most popular teams in Santa Barbara.

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