Emily Carpenter is the new head coach for the Knox College Prairie Fire women’s basketball program, the college announced Wednesday.
“We had an incredibly competitive pool of candidates, but Emily really rose to the top,” said Justin Newell, vice president and director of athletics at Knox College. “Her background as a strong Division III competitor and her success coaching at her alma mater made her stand out. We believe she brings the experience, energy, and vision to help take Knox women’s basketball to the next level.
“I am excited for Coach Carpenter to join the Prairie Fire family and hope the community welcomes her to Galesburg.”
Carpenter comes to Galesburg after serving three years as the women’s basketball head coach at her alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Superior, compiling a record of 45-34 overall and 32-10 in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. Serving as the interim head coach in her first year, Carpenter helped the team beat the preseason prognostications that had the team placing sixth by guiding the team to a third-place finish, qualifying for the four-team conference tournament.
In 2023-24, Carpenter guided the team to the UMAC regular-season title with a conference record of 13-1 and finished the campaign 18-9. This past season, she led the Yellowjackets to another regular-season crown at 11-3 as well as the UMAC Tournament championship to earn a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Under Carpenter’s leadership, UW-Superior produced a UMAC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, eight All-UMAC honorees (including two on the first team), three members of the league’s All-Defensive Team and eight College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selections.
Prior to returning to UW-Superior, Carpenter served as the assistant softball coach for two seasons (2021-22) at Gustavus Adolphus College in hometown of St. Peter, Minnesota.
Carpenter graduated from UW-Superior in 2020 with a degree in exercise science and community health promotion. A two-sport athlete for the Yellowjackets, she was a prolific 3-point shooter for the basketball team and played two years on the softball squad. Carpenter ranks second all-time in 3-pointers made (160) and fourth in 3-point field goal percentage (.415) at the school while also setting program marks for 3-pointers made (63) and attempted (151) in a season as a senior.
A two-year starter at point guard, Carpenter played in 106 games in her career and finished her four years with 336 assists, second most in program history. She played a big role in helping UW-Superior win three UMAC regular-season championships and two UMAC Tournament titles, advancing to the NCAA Tournament in her first two campaigns.
