Westfield State women鈥檚 basketball coach Andrea Bertini is the epitome of a success story
WESTFIELD, Mass. (BVM) 鈥� Andrea Bertini will forever be a household name within Westfield State University (WSU) athletics.聽
Before her success as a coach, Bertini was once a standout athlete on the basketball court for the Owls, leading the program to two NCAA tournaments.
Since becoming head coach of the Westfield State women鈥檚 basketball team in 2005, Bertini has led the Owls to five NCAA tournament bids. Under Bertini鈥檚 tenure, the Owls have become a mainstay in the tournament, recently making appearances in four consecutive seasons from 2016-2019.
During her time as a player, Bertini led the Owls to two NCAA tournaments and two ECAC postseason bids. She set an NCAA record by making 119 3–pointers during her sophomore season, while making 4.1 3–point shots per game, which remains the eighth highest average in NCAA history.聽
To this day the 1996 graduate holds a bundle of 3–point records at Westfield State: career 3–pointers made (287) and attempted (769). Bertini finished off her amazing career with 1,310 points which puts her sixth on the all time list at WSU. She is also ninth in career assists with (243) and steals with (180).聽
Bertini was an All-New England third team honoree in her 1996 season, a State Conference first team selection, and even led the Owls to the best four year run in school history, tallying up a record of 88-27 record. In her playing days, she racked up two MASCAC Championships and participated in the NCAA Tournament in 1995 and 1996.聽
Before coaching at her alma mater, Bertini was a head coach, as well as an assistant athletics director, for Newbury College in Brookline, Mass. before going on to coach at Colby College for two seasons.聽
The WSU head coach received her bachelor鈥檚 degree from Westfield State University before obtaining a master鈥檚 degree at Springfield College.聽
Westfield State has gone on to win seven MASCAC regular season Championships in the past 11 seasons under head coach Bertini. The four-time MASCAC Coach of the Year, has also led the Owls to 20 or more win seasons four different times.聽
Bertini has incorporated a play style called 鈥渢he system鈥� which allows every player on the team to receive playing time. Each player gets 45 seconds to 1 minute and then the next rotation comes in. This style gives the Owls an opportunity to be fast paced and has led to both team and personal success.聽
With this style of play the Owls have led the country in four categories: total steals, steals per game, turnovers forced per game, and turnover margin. In the 2016-17 season, Bertini had the Owls as the second ranked scoring team in the nation at 89 points per game.
This system helped 2017 graduate Jill Valley lead the country in steals with 4.58 per game. She also broke a 42-year-old school record for scoring with 52 points in a conference game helping her receive National Player Of The Week.
In 2009, Bertini took the Owls to the NCAA Tournament, breaking a 13 year tournament drought. They won their first crown in 16 years and their first MASCAC postseason tournament in 17 years.聽
With all of her accolades as a student athlete, Bertini still came back to her alma mater to give back to the student-athletes there now. She is the true definition of an all class winner.
