University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Women's Basketball
Kirkpatrick Brown, Brenda
Brenda Kirkpatrick Brown
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- bkirkpat@unca.edu
- Phone:
- 232-2413
Waynesville, N.C., native Brenda Kirkpatrick Brown completed her seventh year as head coach of the UNC Asheville women’s basketball program after the 2018-19 campaign.
Through her first seven years at the helm, she has taken the program to new heights and set a new standard. That includes going from winning nine games in 2014-15 to winning 79 games in just four campaigns while capturing back-to-back Big South Conference Tournament crowns, two NCAA Tournament berths, four consecutive postseason berths and one Big South Conference regular-season title.
In her time in Asheville, Brown, the 2015-16 Big South Conference Coach of the Year, has coached 11 Bulldogs to All-Big South Conference honors, including 2015-16 league Player of the Year Chatori Major. Additionally, six players earned Big South Championship All-Tournament honors with Major and Sonora Dengokl being named Most Valuable Player in 2016 and 2017.
The 2018-19 season was highlighted by Brown picking up her 100th career victory with a 62-45 win over Charleston Southern on March 2, 2019 inside Kimmel Arena. Brown coached the Bulldogs to an 11-7 conference record and a No. 4 seed in the Big South Conference Championships. The Bulldogs were an impressive 12-3 in games played inside Kimmel Arena. For the second straight year, UNC Asheville hosted a postseason tournament inside Kimmel Arena when the Bulldogs faced off against Appalachian State on March 20, 2019 in the first round of the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI).
Also in the 2018-19 season, Sonora Dengokl, an NCCSIA All-State Team selection, broke the UNC Asheville Division I record for points in a game when she scored 36 points versus USC Upstate on Jan. 15. Jessica Wall set a new UNC Asheville record for three-pointers made in a career with 231.
In the 2017-18 season, UNC Asheville women's basketball raced through Big South Conference play, which was highlighted by handing Liberty its first league loss of the year. The Bulldogs' season was capped off by playing in their third straight postseason tournament. UNC Asheville hosted Furman in the WBI, which was the first time the program has hosted a postseason tournament.
Also during the 2017-18 season, Bronaza Fitzgerald broke the UNC Asheville Division I record for single-season rebounds with 319. Khaila Webb also etched her name into the record book, as she finished her career with 1,109 points (13th-most all-time), and Jessica Wall also broke the program record for the most made three-pointers in a season (90).
It could be said that Coach Mock, as Brown is usually referred to as, proved her mettle most during the 2016-17 season, guiding the Bulldogs to a 19-15 record that included an impressive finish and UNC Asheville’s second-straight Big South Conference Championship crown and NCAA Tournament berth. The 19-15 record marked just the seventh time in program history that UNC Asheville women’s basketball finished with a positive record. Two of those have come under Kirkpatrick’s guidance.
Tabbed as the league’s preseason favorite to claim the regular-season crown, the Bulldogs started the season well enough, winning four of their first five games. As the calendar turned to conference play, the Bulldogs lost key players to injury, forcing Kirkpatrick and staff to make changes to personnel and game strategies while asking players to expand their rolls. Despite going 9-9 in Big South play during the regular season, the changes and growth paid off in spades as the Bulldogs closed out the 2016-17 campaign winning eight of their last 10 games. Included in that stretch were two wins to wrap up the regular season and then four wins in four days to claim the Big South Conference Championship title. It was the first time in league history that a team had won four games over four days to take home the title and Coach Mock became the first women’s basketball coach at UNC Asheville to win multiple conference tournament crowns.
During the Big South Conference Championships stretch, the seventh-seeded Bulldogs won their first-round game over No. 10 seed Longwood and turned around the next day to knock of second-seeded Campbell in the quarterfinal round. During the semifinal round, Asheville defeated sixth-seeded Presbyterian and the Bulldogs then wrapped up the incredible stretch by toppling top-seeded Radford in the championship game, earning the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight season. In doing so, the Bulldogs became the first seven-seed to ever win the Big South Women’s Basketball Championships. Major and Dengokl were both recognized following the tournament with All-Tournament honors and Dengokl was awarded the program’s second-straight MVP award.
UNC Asheville closed out the season as the 16-seed in the Stockton (Ca.) Regional of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. The Bulldogs played top-seeded South Carolina in the first round of the tournament and despite a strong start, ultimately bowed out.
Major and fellow senior KJ Weaver were both named to the Big South All-Conference teams with Major picking up her second-straight first-team honor. Major became just the fourth UNC Asheville women’s basketball player to earn multiple Big South first-team plaudits. Major was also named to the conference’s All-Academic Team.
During the season several players permanently etched their names in the UNC Asheville record book. Senior guards Tianna Knuckles and Chatori Major became the 105th and 106th women’s basketball players in conference history to eclipse the 1,000 career point mark. Knuckles ended her playing career with 1,129 career points, the 10th-most all-time in program history and sixth-most in Asheville’s NCAA Division I era. Major ended her career with 1,116 career points, the 12th-most by a Bulldog all-time and eighth-most in the Division I era. As a junior during the 2015-16 season, Knuckles set the school record for most three-pointers in a single season with 73. It was a mark that had stood for over 25 years. During the 2016-17 campaign, Major then broke the record and set a new standard with 78 three-pointers. Fellow senior KJ Weaver also etched her name in the record book as she ended her career with 747 rebounds, sixth-most by a UNC Asheville women’s basketball player and fourth-most in the NCAA Division I era. Weaver was the 108th Big South Conference women’s basketball player to eclipse the 500-rebound plateau and then became the 74th player in league history to bring down 600 rebounds and the 50th player to eclipse 700 rebounds. Weaver also finished her career in the top-five in program history with 157 career blocks.
The 2015-16 season saw Kirkpatrick lead her team to the biggest turnaround season in NCAA Division I women’s basketball, finishing the year with an overall record of 26-7 following a 9-22 season the year before. Coach Mock earned Big South Conference Coach of the Year honors and was also named the Division I women’s basketball Coach of the Year by HERO Sports.
Asheville hosted many decorated Bulldogs as a part of the 2015-16 campaign that paved the way to Asheville’s success on and off the court. Under Coach Kirkpatick’s leadership, Chatori Major earned Big South Conference Player of the Year and Conference Tournament MVP honors, along with teammate Tianna Knuckles, who received Big South Second Team All-Conference honors as well as being named an All-Tournament team selection. Paige Love earned Big South All-Academic team honors and was recognized as the first student-athlete to receive the University’s William and Ida Friday Award for Service to Community.
The 2015-16 season was a record-breaking year for the Bulldogs in many ways. After being picked to finish eighth of ten teams in the league’s preseason poll, they began the year by matching the best start in school history (9-1) on their way to program-high regular season wins (26) and conference wins (16). Kirkpatrick also led the Bulldogs to the program’s first ever Big South Conference Regular Season Title, a Big South Conference Tournament Championship and an NCAA first round appearance.
In 2014-15, the Bulldogs finished 9-22 but saw 10 of those losses come by a single-digit margin, including six coming by just three points or less.
In 2013-2014 the Bulldogs finished with 11 wins, the most for the program in four seasons. Asheville had landmark nonconference victories over Furman and Eastern Kentucky. In addition, the Bulldogs downed Liberty, giving the Blue & White its first home win over the Lady Flames in 17 years. Asheville earned a 43-42 win over Radford in the first round of the Big South Conference Tournament. The win was the Bulldogs first tournament win in seven years.
Kirkpatrick joined the Bulldog program prior to the 2012-13 season after serving as an assistant to Amanda Butler at the University of Florida for five years. She helped lead the Gator program to five consecutive post-season berths, including two trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Before going to Florida, Kirkpatrick worked at Charlotte for two years when Butler was the head coach of the 49er program. During their two years together in Charlotte, the 49ers compiled 40 wins, captured a share of the 2006 Atlantic 10 regular-season championship and earned a pair of postseason berths.
Kirkpatrick broke into the coaching ranks for the 2002-03 season at Georgia Tech under then-head coach Agnus Berenato, helping the Yellow Jackets win 20 games and earn a bid into the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in program history. Berenato departed following that record-setting campaign for the University of Pittsburgh, while Kirkpatrick remained on staff in Atlanta for 2003-04 before heading to Jacksonville University for a season.
A successful collegiate playing tenure afforded Kirkpatrick the opportunity to play professionally in France for NantesReze 44 during the 2001-02 season before launching her coaching career.
Kirkpatrick earned a bachelor’s of arts in history and sociology in 2000 and a master’s of arts in education in 2001 from Wake Forest University. She enjoyed an outstanding career in Winston-Salem, where the two-time captain averaged 7.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest during her four-year career. As a senior in 2000-01, the six-foot forward garnered honorable mention All-ACC honors after contributing 10 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
During her time as a Demon Deacon, Kirkpatrick was a first team Academic All-District selection and a four-year member of the ACC Student-Athlete Honor Roll. Despite having to take a medical redshirt (ACL) for the 1996-97 season that delayed her collegiate debut, Kirkpatrick did not miss a game during her four-year career, appearing in all 111 contests and earning 57 starts.
The daughter of Weaver and Brenda Kirkpatrick, she is most often referred to as ‘Coach Mock’ or ‘Mock,’ which is her middle name and also her mother’s maiden name.
Mock graduated from Tuscola High School in 1996 as a decorated student and athlete. While maintaining a 4.2 grade-point average, she lettered in softball and volleyball in addition to her stellar hoops career, where she was an honorable mention All-America selection by Street & Smith and USA Today in 1995 and 1996, while setting two state records for free throws: most in a game (25-of-25) and most consecutive (39), totaling 51 points in the game she hit 25 free throws. Kirkpatrick was the Asheville Citizen-Times Player of the Year for three consecutive seasons. She played for John Best at Tuscola in basketball.
Brenda Kirkpatrick Brown married UNC Asheville ECE Lab Coordinator for the mechatronics program, Jeremy Brown, in December of 2018.
Through her first seven years at the helm, she has taken the program to new heights and set a new standard. That includes going from winning nine games in 2014-15 to winning 79 games in just four campaigns while capturing back-to-back Big South Conference Tournament crowns, two NCAA Tournament berths, four consecutive postseason berths and one Big South Conference regular-season title.
In her time in Asheville, Brown, the 2015-16 Big South Conference Coach of the Year, has coached 11 Bulldogs to All-Big South Conference honors, including 2015-16 league Player of the Year Chatori Major. Additionally, six players earned Big South Championship All-Tournament honors with Major and Sonora Dengokl being named Most Valuable Player in 2016 and 2017.
The 2018-19 season was highlighted by Brown picking up her 100th career victory with a 62-45 win over Charleston Southern on March 2, 2019 inside Kimmel Arena. Brown coached the Bulldogs to an 11-7 conference record and a No. 4 seed in the Big South Conference Championships. The Bulldogs were an impressive 12-3 in games played inside Kimmel Arena. For the second straight year, UNC Asheville hosted a postseason tournament inside Kimmel Arena when the Bulldogs faced off against Appalachian State on March 20, 2019 in the first round of the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI).
Also in the 2018-19 season, Sonora Dengokl, an NCCSIA All-State Team selection, broke the UNC Asheville Division I record for points in a game when she scored 36 points versus USC Upstate on Jan. 15. Jessica Wall set a new UNC Asheville record for three-pointers made in a career with 231.
In the 2017-18 season, UNC Asheville women's basketball raced through Big South Conference play, which was highlighted by handing Liberty its first league loss of the year. The Bulldogs' season was capped off by playing in their third straight postseason tournament. UNC Asheville hosted Furman in the WBI, which was the first time the program has hosted a postseason tournament.
Also during the 2017-18 season, Bronaza Fitzgerald broke the UNC Asheville Division I record for single-season rebounds with 319. Khaila Webb also etched her name into the record book, as she finished her career with 1,109 points (13th-most all-time), and Jessica Wall also broke the program record for the most made three-pointers in a season (90).
It could be said that Coach Mock, as Brown is usually referred to as, proved her mettle most during the 2016-17 season, guiding the Bulldogs to a 19-15 record that included an impressive finish and UNC Asheville’s second-straight Big South Conference Championship crown and NCAA Tournament berth. The 19-15 record marked just the seventh time in program history that UNC Asheville women’s basketball finished with a positive record. Two of those have come under Kirkpatrick’s guidance.
Tabbed as the league’s preseason favorite to claim the regular-season crown, the Bulldogs started the season well enough, winning four of their first five games. As the calendar turned to conference play, the Bulldogs lost key players to injury, forcing Kirkpatrick and staff to make changes to personnel and game strategies while asking players to expand their rolls. Despite going 9-9 in Big South play during the regular season, the changes and growth paid off in spades as the Bulldogs closed out the 2016-17 campaign winning eight of their last 10 games. Included in that stretch were two wins to wrap up the regular season and then four wins in four days to claim the Big South Conference Championship title. It was the first time in league history that a team had won four games over four days to take home the title and Coach Mock became the first women’s basketball coach at UNC Asheville to win multiple conference tournament crowns.
During the Big South Conference Championships stretch, the seventh-seeded Bulldogs won their first-round game over No. 10 seed Longwood and turned around the next day to knock of second-seeded Campbell in the quarterfinal round. During the semifinal round, Asheville defeated sixth-seeded Presbyterian and the Bulldogs then wrapped up the incredible stretch by toppling top-seeded Radford in the championship game, earning the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight season. In doing so, the Bulldogs became the first seven-seed to ever win the Big South Women’s Basketball Championships. Major and Dengokl were both recognized following the tournament with All-Tournament honors and Dengokl was awarded the program’s second-straight MVP award.
UNC Asheville closed out the season as the 16-seed in the Stockton (Ca.) Regional of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. The Bulldogs played top-seeded South Carolina in the first round of the tournament and despite a strong start, ultimately bowed out.
Major and fellow senior KJ Weaver were both named to the Big South All-Conference teams with Major picking up her second-straight first-team honor. Major became just the fourth UNC Asheville women’s basketball player to earn multiple Big South first-team plaudits. Major was also named to the conference’s All-Academic Team.
During the season several players permanently etched their names in the UNC Asheville record book. Senior guards Tianna Knuckles and Chatori Major became the 105th and 106th women’s basketball players in conference history to eclipse the 1,000 career point mark. Knuckles ended her playing career with 1,129 career points, the 10th-most all-time in program history and sixth-most in Asheville’s NCAA Division I era. Major ended her career with 1,116 career points, the 12th-most by a Bulldog all-time and eighth-most in the Division I era. As a junior during the 2015-16 season, Knuckles set the school record for most three-pointers in a single season with 73. It was a mark that had stood for over 25 years. During the 2016-17 campaign, Major then broke the record and set a new standard with 78 three-pointers. Fellow senior KJ Weaver also etched her name in the record book as she ended her career with 747 rebounds, sixth-most by a UNC Asheville women’s basketball player and fourth-most in the NCAA Division I era. Weaver was the 108th Big South Conference women’s basketball player to eclipse the 500-rebound plateau and then became the 74th player in league history to bring down 600 rebounds and the 50th player to eclipse 700 rebounds. Weaver also finished her career in the top-five in program history with 157 career blocks.
The 2015-16 season saw Kirkpatrick lead her team to the biggest turnaround season in NCAA Division I women’s basketball, finishing the year with an overall record of 26-7 following a 9-22 season the year before. Coach Mock earned Big South Conference Coach of the Year honors and was also named the Division I women’s basketball Coach of the Year by HERO Sports.
Asheville hosted many decorated Bulldogs as a part of the 2015-16 campaign that paved the way to Asheville’s success on and off the court. Under Coach Kirkpatick’s leadership, Chatori Major earned Big South Conference Player of the Year and Conference Tournament MVP honors, along with teammate Tianna Knuckles, who received Big South Second Team All-Conference honors as well as being named an All-Tournament team selection. Paige Love earned Big South All-Academic team honors and was recognized as the first student-athlete to receive the University’s William and Ida Friday Award for Service to Community.
The 2015-16 season was a record-breaking year for the Bulldogs in many ways. After being picked to finish eighth of ten teams in the league’s preseason poll, they began the year by matching the best start in school history (9-1) on their way to program-high regular season wins (26) and conference wins (16). Kirkpatrick also led the Bulldogs to the program’s first ever Big South Conference Regular Season Title, a Big South Conference Tournament Championship and an NCAA first round appearance.
In 2014-15, the Bulldogs finished 9-22 but saw 10 of those losses come by a single-digit margin, including six coming by just three points or less.
In 2013-2014 the Bulldogs finished with 11 wins, the most for the program in four seasons. Asheville had landmark nonconference victories over Furman and Eastern Kentucky. In addition, the Bulldogs downed Liberty, giving the Blue & White its first home win over the Lady Flames in 17 years. Asheville earned a 43-42 win over Radford in the first round of the Big South Conference Tournament. The win was the Bulldogs first tournament win in seven years.
Kirkpatrick joined the Bulldog program prior to the 2012-13 season after serving as an assistant to Amanda Butler at the University of Florida for five years. She helped lead the Gator program to five consecutive post-season berths, including two trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Before going to Florida, Kirkpatrick worked at Charlotte for two years when Butler was the head coach of the 49er program. During their two years together in Charlotte, the 49ers compiled 40 wins, captured a share of the 2006 Atlantic 10 regular-season championship and earned a pair of postseason berths.
Kirkpatrick broke into the coaching ranks for the 2002-03 season at Georgia Tech under then-head coach Agnus Berenato, helping the Yellow Jackets win 20 games and earn a bid into the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in program history. Berenato departed following that record-setting campaign for the University of Pittsburgh, while Kirkpatrick remained on staff in Atlanta for 2003-04 before heading to Jacksonville University for a season.
A successful collegiate playing tenure afforded Kirkpatrick the opportunity to play professionally in France for NantesReze 44 during the 2001-02 season before launching her coaching career.
Kirkpatrick earned a bachelor’s of arts in history and sociology in 2000 and a master’s of arts in education in 2001 from Wake Forest University. She enjoyed an outstanding career in Winston-Salem, where the two-time captain averaged 7.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest during her four-year career. As a senior in 2000-01, the six-foot forward garnered honorable mention All-ACC honors after contributing 10 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
During her time as a Demon Deacon, Kirkpatrick was a first team Academic All-District selection and a four-year member of the ACC Student-Athlete Honor Roll. Despite having to take a medical redshirt (ACL) for the 1996-97 season that delayed her collegiate debut, Kirkpatrick did not miss a game during her four-year career, appearing in all 111 contests and earning 57 starts.
The daughter of Weaver and Brenda Kirkpatrick, she is most often referred to as ‘Coach Mock’ or ‘Mock,’ which is her middle name and also her mother’s maiden name.
Mock graduated from Tuscola High School in 1996 as a decorated student and athlete. While maintaining a 4.2 grade-point average, she lettered in softball and volleyball in addition to her stellar hoops career, where she was an honorable mention All-America selection by Street & Smith and USA Today in 1995 and 1996, while setting two state records for free throws: most in a game (25-of-25) and most consecutive (39), totaling 51 points in the game she hit 25 free throws. Kirkpatrick was the Asheville Citizen-Times Player of the Year for three consecutive seasons. She played for John Best at Tuscola in basketball.
Brenda Kirkpatrick Brown married UNC Asheville ECE Lab Coordinator for the mechatronics program, Jeremy Brown, in December of 2018.
Highlights || Women's Basketball || #9 UNC Asheville vs #1 High Point (Big South Tournament)
Thursday, March 14
Highlights || Women's Basketball || #9 UNC Asheville vs #8 Gardner-Webb (Big South Tournament)
Thursday, March 14
Highlights || Women's Basketball || UNC Asheville vs Radford
Monday, March 04
Highlights || Women's Basketball || UNC Asheville at Gardner-Webb
Monday, February 26
