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Wayne State University Athletics

Carrie Lohr headshot

Carrie Lohr

UPDATED April 2, 2025
  • Coached 105 Academic All-GLIAC honorees in her 14 years (2011-2025)
  • Became WSU Women's Basketball All-Time Winningest Coach on January 10, 2019 (127 wins)
  • Recorded 350th collegiate coaching victory on December 9, 2022 (WSU and SC4 combined)
  • Garnered 200th WSU coaching victory on December 19, 2023
  • Honored by the WBCA and BCAM organizations in 2021 as a member of the 300 Victory Club(s)
  • Notched the first NCAA Tournament win by the WSU women's basketball program in 2013
  • Led the Warriors to back-to-back NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearances in 2013 and 2014
  • Mentored 23 All-GLIAC performers (nine First Team and 14 Second Team), plus 10 GLIAC All-Defensive Team honorees
  • Tutored One GLIAC Player of the Year (Shareta Brown in 2014-15)
  • Had four players earn GLIAC All-Tournament team honors, and four receive NCAA Midwest Regional All-Tournament team accolades

Carrie Lohr enters her 15th season as the head women's basketball coach at Wayne State University in the fall of 2025, after being named to the position on May 11, 2011.

In 14 seasons at the helm of the Warrior women's basketball program, Lohr has accumulated 228 wins.  She became WSU's all-time winningest coach when her squad recorded a 76-67 win at Purdue Northwest on January 10, 2019.  Lohr is the only coach with five consecutive double-digit win totals.  She was also the fastest to reach the century mark.

Wayne State has had 105 Academic All-GLIAC honorees in her 14 years, including a school-record 11 during the 2021-22 academic year, a mark which the 2024-25 squad equaled.  The 2024-25 team played the third-toughest schedule in Division 2 (564-367, .606) [out of 301 schools] and finished with a 20-12 record, marking the fourth 20-win season by Lohr at WSU.

The 2024-25 squad won a GLIAC Tournament game and an NCAA Midwest Regional contest only to fall to eventual national champion Grand Valley State in the semifinals of both tournaments.  In fact, four of WSU's 12 setbacks were to the Lakers.

Both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 teams qualified for the GLIAC Tournament and were upended on the road in first round games at Michigan Tech (2023) and Northern Michigan (2024).

The 2021-22 squad qualified for the NCAA Tournament, the fourth post-season appearance in Lohr's tenure, after tying for second place during the GLIAC regular-season with a 13-7 record, and advancing to the GLIAC semifinals.  WSU posted an 18-10 overall record, which included a 2-6 mark against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

The squad was very successful off the court earning the No. 18 spot on the WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll with a 3.723 team GPA for the 2021-22 academic year.  In addition, the Warrior women's basketball program was ranked fifth nationally among all NCAA Division 2 women's sports teams in community service hours according to Helper Helper.  WSU was in the top three among all D2 women's basketball teams for the third consecutive year.

The 2020-21 team tied-for-third during the GLIAC regular-season with an 11-7 record in a season shortened by COVID.  In addition, the Warriors won a post-season game for the fifth time under Lohr.  The head coach guided Sam Cherney to First Team All-GLIAC and GLIAC All-Defensive Team accolades, while Kate Sherwood was a Second Team All-GLIAC selection.

The 2019-20 squad advanced to the GLIAC semifinals after posting a two-point road victory at Ferris State in a quarterfinal round match-up.  Seniors Nastassja Chambers and Sadia Johnson were both voted to the All-GLIAC Second Team by the league's head coaches, while Cherney was selected to the GLIAC All-Defensive Team.

Senior Ja'Nae Wiliams earned two accolades for the 2018-19 campaign, being voted to the All-GLIAC Second Team as well as the All-GLIAC Defensive Team.

The 2017-18 team earned three All-GLIAC selections.  Senior Shannon Wilson was named to the conference's First Team, with Chambers earning Second Team honors and Williams being voted to the All-GLIAC Defensive Team.   WSU more than doubled its win total from the previous season, and hosted a GLIAC Tournament contest.

Her 2016-17 team had four members receive GLIAC All-Academic accolades with Sara Ruhstorfer and Jessica Murphy earning GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team honors for maintaining a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.5.

The 2015-16 squad had just six returning letterwinners from the previous season, and struggled in close games losing seven contests by eight points or less, plus another two matches that went into double overtime.  The team did produce five Academic All-GLIAC recipients including three on the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence squad in Tori Bellamy, Sara Ruhstorfer and Wilson.

During the 2014-15 campaign, Lohr led the Warriors to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament along with tying the school record for wins in a season (23).  It marked the third consecutive year, WSU had won at least 22 games.  Wayne State had a 10-game winning streak (Dec. 15-Jan. 22) along with claiming the GLIAC South Division title with an 18-4 league ledger.  The 18 conference wins were the most in program history.

Senior center Shareta Brown was voted the 2014-15 GLIAC Player of the Year along the way to being tabbed as the WBCA Division II National Player of the Year.  Subsequently, Brown was named the 2015 DII Woman of the Year nominee for basketball from The Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) presented by Honda.

Academically, the program produced five GLIAC All-Academic honorees.  In terms of league recognition, Brown was named to the All-GLIAC First Team as well as the All-GLIAC Defensive Team, while junior guard Destiny Lavita-Stephens was voted to the All-GLIAC Second Team.

The year prior (2013-14), Lohr mentored a young Warrior squad to the NCAA Regional Final for the second straight season.  After wins over Indianapolis and Lewis, WSU fell to host Drury in a Sweet Sixteen matchup.  The Warriors won their first outright GLIAC regular-season title in 33 years by compiling a 17-5 conference record.  Four of Lohr's student-athletes received Academic All-GLIAC honors including Kristen Long who was named to the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team.

Brown earned First Team All-GLIAC and GLIAC All-Defensive Team accolades after a 2013-14 season in which she won the regular-season scoring title, led the nation in field goal percentage and finished second in the GLIAC in rebounding.  Imari Redfield, the squad's lone senior, received Second Team All-GLIAC recognition.

In addition, Brown was voted to the Daktronics All-America First Team and became the first women's basketball player in school history to be a First Team All-American by any organization.  Brown was named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-American Honorable Mention Team becoming just the second Warrior women's basketball player, and the first since Keneisha Moss in 2002-03, to be named to a WBCA All-America Team.

Lohr was voted the 2012-13 GLIAC Coach of the Year by her peers after leading Wayne State to a share of the GLIAC North Division regular-season title, the first for the WSU women's basketball program since the 1980-81 season.

Lohr also guided the Warriors to their first NCAA tournament victory (63-58 over Findlay) as well as the school's inaugural appearance in the NCAA Regional Championship game.

Her 2012-13 squad consisted of three All-GLIAC players (Talisha Bridges on First Team, Juanita Cochran and Phaebre Colbert on Second Team) as well as nine student-athletes who earned a spot on either the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team (Talisha Bridges, Cochran, Amelia Davis and Paige Sickmiller) or the GLIAC All-Academic Team (Kayla Bridges, Colbert, Redfield, Chloe Srebernak and Lena Thomas).  In addition, Talisha Bridges became WSU's first All-Region selection since the 2003-04 season earning Second Team All-Midwest Region accolades from Daktronics.

Lohr recorded her 200th collegiate coaching victory on March 16, 2013, with WSU's 70-60 triumph over Wisconsin-Parkside in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

BCAM selected Lohr as the 2012-13 Women's College Coach of the Year.

In her inaugural season with the Warriors, Lohr led a young squad (only one senior) to 12 victories, the most wins by WSU in four years, and the second-most triumphs in the last eight seasons.

Lohr came to Wayne State after serving as the head coach at St. Clair County Community College (SC4) in Port Huron for nine seasons (2002-11).  She also spent two years (1997-99) as an assistant coach at Oakland University as it made the transition from Division II to Division I.

She was selected as the 2009-10 BCAM (Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan) Junior College Coach of the Year after earning the MCCAA Eastern Conference Coach of the Year award. She also won the BCAM Junior College Coach of the Year award following the 2003-04 campaign.

Lohr had a record of 166-106 (.610) in her nine years with the Skippers along with an MCCAA mark of 93-50 (.650), as SC4 always finished in the top half of the conference standings.

She had an All-Region player in six of her nine seasons, including the 2003-04 Player of the Year in the region (Taleesha Hardy).

Lohr mentored six First Team All-MCCAA Eastern Conference players as well as eight Second Team honorees, and a total of 28 all-conference selections.

In addition, she tutored five All-Defensive Team players in her last five seasons, including the 2006-07 MCCAA Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year in Kim Lackowski.  Lohr also had five student-athletes named to the All-Freshman Team, including the 2008-09 Freshman of the Year in Chanahl Putnam.

Her Skipper squads won at least one district post-season tournament game in five of her last six seasons and made four appearances in the district semifinals in her last six years.

Over the nine-year span at SC4, 23 of her players earned athletic scholarships at four-year universities, including nine at the NCAA Division I or DII levels.

The Golden Grizzlies compiled a two-year mark of 34-20 with Lohr assisting head coach Beckie Francis.  The players Lohr and Francis recruited in 1997 and 1998 helped OU win three straight conference titles (‘99,’00,’01) and earn a berth in the 2002 NCAA tournament.

Two of her OU players (Katie Wolfe and Sarah Judd) received significant recognition. Wolfe was a Kodak All-America Honorable Mention as a sophomore, while Judd was the 2002 Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Year as well as Tournament MVP.

In the spring of 1998, Lohr was a training camp coach during try-outs for the inaugural season of the WNBA’s Detroit Shock.

She received an Associate of Arts degree from St. Clair County Community College in 1992 and earned a Bachelor of General Studies from the University of Michigan-Dearborn in 1994.  Lohr continued her education and was awarded a Master of Arts in Counseling from Oakland University in 1999.

She was a three-sport athlete (basketball, volleyball and softball) for the Redskins of Sandusky High School.  Lohr began her collegiate playing career as a point guard at SC4 where she earned First Team All-MCCAA , All-State and All-Region XI honors and also served as team captain her sophomore year.  She continued her basketball career at Michigan-Dearborn, where she led the Wolves to their first post-season playoff game in school history and also served as team captain in her senior season.

A native of Sandusky, she and her husband, Eric, reside in St. Clair with their two children Sarah and Eli.  Lohr is a member of both the WBCA (Women’s Basketball Coaches Association) and BCAM.  She was named to the BCAM Board of Directors in the summer of 2013.  In addition, Lohr served on the USA Today Sports NCAA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll committee during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons and was appointed to another two-year term for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 campaigns.

Lohr was named to a three-year term (2018-21) on the NCAA Division II women's basketball regional advisory committee.

 
CARRIE LOHR'S WAYNE STATE COACHING RECORD
Overall GLIAC
YEAR WON LOST PCT. WON LOST PCT. FINISH POST-SEASON
2011-12 12 14 .462 7 12 .368 6th/7-South -- T-9th Overall DNQ
2012-13 22 9 .710 17 5 .773 T-1st/8-North -- T-3rd Overall NCAA Regional Finalist
2013-14 23 8 .742 17 5 .773 1st/8-North -- 1st Overall NCAA Regional Finalist
2014-15 23 6 .793 18 4 .818 1st/8-South -- 2nd Overall NCAA Regional Semifinalist
2015-16 12 16 .429 7 15 .318 5th/8-South -- T-10th Overall DNQ
2016-17 8 20 .286 5 16 .238 6th/8-North -- 12th Overall DNQ
2017-18  19 8 .704 14 6 .700 2nd/6-South -- 4th Overall GLIAC Quarterfinalist
2018-19 13 16 .448 8 12 .400 4th/6-South -- 8th Overall GLIAC Quarterfinalist
2019-20 16 14 .533 9 11 .450 3rd/6-South -- T-6th Overall GLIAC Semifinalist
2020-21 12 8 .600 11 7 .611 T-2nd/6-South -- T-3rd Overall GLIAC Quarterfinalist
2021-22 18 10 .680 13 7 .650 T-2nd Overall NCAA Regional Quarterfinalist
2022-23 14 13 .519 7 11 .389 7th Overall GLIAC Quarterfinalist
2023-24 16 12 .571 9 9 .500 6th Overall GLIAC Quarterfinalist
2024-25 20 12 .625 13 7 .650 T-3rd Overall NCAA Regional Semifinalist
Career 228 166 .579 155 127 .550 ------- 12-16 (6-11 GLIAC/6-5 NCAA)


 
CARRIE LOHR'S JUNIOR COLLEGE HEAD COACHING RECORD
Overall MCCAA
YEAR WON LOST PCT. WON LOST PCT. FINISH POST-SEASON
2010-11 19 12 .613 10 6 .625 3rd/9-East 1-1/semifinalist
2009-10 22 8 .733 13 3 .813 2nd/9-East 1-1/semifinalist
2008-09 18 12 .600 12 6 .667 T-4th/10-East 0-1/lost in OT
2007-08* 16 15 .516 10 8 .556 T-4th/10-East 1-1/semifinalist
2006-07 16 15 .516 12 6 .667 4th/10-East 1-1/quarterfinalist
2005-06 20 11 .645 6 6 .500 4th/8-East 2-1/semifinalist
2004-05 20 10 .667 10 6 .625 3rd/10-East 0-1/quarterfinalist
2003-04 20 11 .645 12 4 .750 4th/10-East 0-1/first round
2002-03 15 12 .556 8 5 .615 T-5th/10-East 1-1/quarterfinalist
Career 166 106 .610 93 50 .650 ------- ------

*-Includes forfeit win.