Sept. 23, 2003

St. Louis - Saint Louis University head women's basketball coach Jill Pizzotti today announced that former Billiken standout Mandy DeSpain has been named assistant basketball coach. DeSpain, formerly Mandy Lueking, played guard under Pizzotti for the Billikens from 1996-2000 and was a two-time All-Conference USA selection.

"Mandy has so much to offer our ladies and truly understands what it means to be a student-athlete at Saint Louis University." said Pizzotti. "She understands the system we run and knows what we want to accomplish at SLU. It is fantastic to have Mandy as a member of our coaching staff."

DeSpain has been the head coach at Paoli (Ind.) High School for the last two seasons. Taking over a program that had recently been down, she quickly lifted the team to respectability, posting an 18-25 record. DeSpain ranks fourth on the all-time Billiken career scoring list with 1,392 points. DeSpain is SLU's all-time free throw percentage leader at 84.3 percent and is second in 3-point field goal percentage at 37.0 percent. She ranks second at the school in 3-pointers made with 164 and is eighth all-time in assists with 221. DeSpain was a part of the 1998-99 team that posted the program's first winning season in more than a decade. One of her playing highlights was sealing the school's first win over a nationally-ranked team by hitting two free throws in the final seconds in a 73-72 victory at No. 22 Memphis in 1999.