Amy Vachon (born August 23, 1978) is an American basketball coach and a former player. A long-time assistant at the University of Maine, Vachon took over as head coach following Richard Barron's medical absence began on January 6. As interim head coach, Vachon led the 2016–17 Lady Black Bears to an 11–6 record, including a trip to the finals of the 2017 America East women's basketball tournament. In April 2017, she was named interim head coach for the 2017–18 season.[1] Following the end of the regular season, one in which Maine was named the America East conference regular season champion, Vachon was named Maine's permanent head coach.[2]

Amy Vachon
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamMaine
ConferenceAmerica East
Record143–71
Biographical details
Born (1978-08-23) August 23, 1978 (age 46)
Playing career
1996–2000Maine
Position(s)Point guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2011–2017Maine (asst.)
2017–presentMaine
Head coaching record
Overall143–71
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
3x America East tournament (2018, 2019, 2024)
America East regular season (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024)
Awards
5x America East Coach of the Year (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024)

Playing career

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Vachon attended Cony High School and was twice Gatorade Player of the Year. Vachon is the daughter of long-time Cony high school head coach Paul Vachon. While in high school, Vachon played on two-state championships teams and was a four-year All-State Basketball Selection and a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year. Vachon was honored as Miss Maine Basketball and the High School Athlete of the Year in 1996. She spent four seasons as a player at Maine, during which time she became one of the all-time assistant leaders in women's college basketball history. Vachon, who was inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 2016, holds the Maine and America East records for the most assists in a season (234) and in a career (759).[3] When hired in 2011, she ranked 22nd all-time in NCAA history in career assists. Vachon earned a spot on the America East All-Tournament Team in 1999.[4]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
1996–97 Maine 30 - - 45.3 35.8 48.8 3.5 4.1 2.0 0.1 - 5.4
1997–98 Maine 30 - - 46.6 37.0 59.5 3.8 6.5 2.3 0.1 - 6.5
1998–99 Maine 29 - - 44.0 33.3 60.2 4.2 8.1 2.5 0.0 - 8.6
1999–00 Maine 31 - - 40.6 34.5 64.6 3.7 6.7 2.5 0.0 - 9.9
Career 120 - - 43.5 34.9 59.8 3.8 6.3 2.3 0.1 - 7.6
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.[5]

Head coaching record

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Maine Black Bears (America East Conference) (2017–present)
2017–18 Maine 23–10 13–3 1st NCAA First Round
2018–19 Maine 25–8 15–1 1st NCAA First Round
2019–20 Maine 18–14 12–4 2nd
2020–21 Maine 17–3 13–2 1st
2021–22 Maine 20–12 15–3 1st WNIT First Round
2022–23 Maine 16–14 11–5 3rd
2023–24 Maine 24–10 14–2 1st NCAA First Round
Maine: 143–71 (.668) 93–20 (.823)
Total: 143–71 (.668)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

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  1. ^ Mahoney, Larry (April 5, 2017). "Vachon appointed UMaine women's basketball coach for 2017–2018; Barron remains in treatment". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  2. ^ "Vachon signs four-year head coaching contract with UMaine". goblackbears.com. March 2, 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Inductee Biographies". Maine Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  4. ^ Hawkins, Gary (June 19, 2013). "NE BASKETBALL: HALL OF FAME: Amy Vachon earns Hall nod". Kennebec Journal / Morning Sentinel. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  5. ^ "Amy Vachon College Stats". Sports-Reference. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
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