Kelly Hart served the women’s basketball
program for 14 years, the final five as head coach, playing a big
role in a program that won nearly 300 games during that time.
Hart joined former head coach and current Vice President for
Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation Paula Sullivan’s
coaching staff after graduating from Boston College in 1986. In her
ten years as on assistant coach for Sullivan, Stonehill won four
Northeast-10 Championships and earned two trips to the NCAA
Division II Elite Eight. Stonehill won a school-record 30 games in
1994-95, advancing to the National Semifinal Round.
After helping lead Stonehill to a 212-64 (.768) record over her
nine years as assistant coach, Hart took on the unenviable task of
replacing the only head coach the program had ever known when
Sullivan retired from coaching in 1996. Hart stepped in and led
Stonehill to an 83-50 (.629) record over her five seasons as head
coach. Stonehill won the 1997 NE-10 Tournament Championship and she
guided the program to three more NCAA Tournament bids, reaching the
regional finals in 1997 as well. Hart coached six All-Conference
selections, two NE-10 Players of the Year, a two-time NE-10
Defensive Player of the Year and one Rookie of the Year in her time
as head coach.