Entering her fourth season, Danelle Bishop has brought the Azusa Pacific women’s basketball program to heights it has never seen before. Coming off 3 straight 20-win seasons, the Cougars are ranked No. 14 in the preseason NAIA coaches poll.
Last season, the Cougars went 24-10 and earned their third consecutive berth into the NAIA Tournament. A year after capturing the first NAIA tournament victory in program history since 1981, Bishop’s 2006 squad won another first-round game at the national tournament and nearly toppled 1 of the 4 #1 seeds in the second round. It was yet another notch on the belt for a program Bishop has put back on the national radar. In 2005, the Cougars earned another important first for the program. Bishop directed her squad to an 81-80 win over No. 1-ranked Vanguard which marked the first win for the Cougars over a top-ranked team.
In her first season as a collegiate coach, Bishop made a big splash orchestrating a dramatic one-year turnaround of the Cougar program by taking virtually the same team that finished 11-21 in 2003 and turning it into a nationally-ranked program. The Cougars finished 20-12, earned a third-place GSAC finish, finished the season ranked No. 24 in the NAIA and earned an at-large berth into their sixth NAIA Tournament.
What makes those accomplishments all the more remarkable is that Bishop inherited an Azusa Pacific team that returned 10 players from 2003 that finished 11-20 overall, 9-11 in the GSAC, but advanced to its tenth straight GSAC postseason tournament. The 3-time GSAC champions were coming off their fourth straight 20-win campaign, a program first, but experienced their first losing season since 1992.
A 1999 graduate of Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, Bishop spent 3 seasons as an assistant coach at San Joaquin Delta Junior College in Stockton, Calif., where she helped lead the Mustangs to the 2002 state tournament semifinals. While at Delta, Bishop also served as the event coordinator of the West Coast JUCO Shootout as well as the administrator of the Mustangs’ Holiday Hoops Camp.
Prior to her time at Delta, Bishop spent the 2000 season as a graduate assistant at her alma mater Tarleton State. There she assisted with all the aspects of the TexAnn program, including preseason conditioning, recruiting, scouting, practice and game day operations, and monitoring the academic progress of the athletes.
As a player, the former Danelle Liles played the 1998 and 1999 seasons at NCAA Division II Tarleton State where she averaged 7.3 points and 4.1 rebounds while earning All-Lone Star Conference honors twice. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in exercise and sport studies in 1999 and a master’s degree in physical education in 2000.
A decorated athlete at East Union High School in Manteca, Calif., Bishop scored 2,210 points (17.7 ppg.) during her prep career and was a 4-time All-Valley Oak League selection, including VOL MVP honors. She led the Lancers to 4 consecutive VOL championships and was a 2-time Cal-Hi Sports All-State first team selection and received USA Today honorable mention. She later became the first female and just the third athlete in East Union High history to have her jersey retired, joining the likes of Scott Brooks, who won an NBA championship with the Houston Rockets in 1994.
Out of high school, Bishop signed a letter of intent at NCAA Division I and Southeastern Conference-member University of Florida. At Florida, she played in 6 games while battling an early season back injury for the 24-9 Gators who advanced to the second round of the 1995 NCAA Tournament.
From Florida, Bishop transferred to Delta College and played the 1997 season, averaging 15 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 assists. She was named team MVP, All-Bay Valley Conference and participated in the California State JC All-Star game.
Bishop was married in September 2006 and resides in Azusa, Calif. She also teaches in the university’s Department of Exercise & Sport Science.
