Assistant Coach Jennifer Bednarek
Jennifer Bednarek is in her first season as an assistant coach with the Orangewomen. She brings 14 years of collegiate coaching experience, both as a head coach and an assistant, to the SU staff.
Bednarek spent the last four seasons as the head coach at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. She compiled a record of 45-65 in her tenure, including two top-five finishes in the Northeast Conference. Her 2000-01 squad went 13-15 overall and 11-7 in the league, finishing in a tie for third place and qualifying for the league's postseason tournament. Bednarek mentored two players that received conference honors in 2002. Jessie Brown was named to the All-Northeast Conference Second Team, while Matea Pender was chosen to the conference's All-Rookie squad.
While at UMBC, Bednarek's 1998-99 squad led the Northeast Conference in scoring defense, allowing only 60.4 points per game. She also mentored the 1999 conference Newcomer of the Year Jami Lange and the 1999 national rebounding leader Monica Logan (13.5 rpg). Bednarek was an assistant coach at UMBC for one season before taking the reigns on May 5, 1998.
Bednarek's collegiate experience dates back to 1980 when she was an assistant coach at Southern Illinois Univiersity for one season. She then worked as an assistant at Wichita State for two seasons (1981-83) and at the University of Iowa for five years (1983-88). Bednarek was a part of C. Vivian Stringer's staff with the Hawkeyes that also included SU head coach Marianna Freeman. She got her first collegiate head coaching job in 1988, leading George Washington University for one season.
Bednarek stepped out of the coaching profession for seven years and worked in various positions. She managed a Starbucks in Rockville, Md., which was the third-most profitable establishment among 400 stores nationwide from 1993-94. In addition to other retail management positions, Bednarek worked as an athletic travel consultant and served as the color commentator for University of Iowa women's basketball broadcasts on WHO Radio in Des Moines, Iowa. She got back into the coaching ranks as an assistant at Rockville High School in Maryland for the 1996-97 season.
Bednarek received a bachelor's degree from Penn State in 1980. She completed a standout playing career as the first PSU player to score 1,000 points. She held the Nittany Lions' single-game scoring record for 22 years, putting up 42 points versus Syracuse on January 31, 1979. Bednarek was a Kodak All-East Division performer in 1978 and 1979, and was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1979. She was also recently inducted into the Paramus (NJ) Catholic Hall of Fame.
