Former URI assistant Shoniker named eighth UNH women's basketball coach

DURHAM – Megan Shoniker once took a program-record 38 shots in one game.

She was playing for the University of Rhode Island at the time in a losing effort against the University of New Hampshire women’s basketball team at Lundholm Gym on New Year’s Day in 2011.

“To my players I hope you get absolutely no ideas from that,” she said with a laugh. “Please do as I say, not as I do.”

Shoniker will call Lundholm home for the foreseeable future after being formally introduced Thursday afternoon as the eighth head coach at UNH and charged with turning around a program that has fallen on hard times of late; the Wildcats haven’t had a winning record since the 2017-18 season.

“The goal is to win championships,” she said. “I want to make that clear.”

Shoniker, a native of Rochester, N.Y., stood out among a large pool of candidates as UNH conducted a national search.

“This is an opportunity to significantly enhance our women’s basketball program,” said Director of Athletics Allison Rich.

Shoniker replaces Nashua’s Kelsey Hogan, a former player at UNH who resigned in late March after four seasons as head coach and 10 on the staff. The Wildcats had an overall record of 28-77 during Hogan’s tenure as head coach and 14-50 in America East.

“I’m extremely process-oriented,” Shoniker said. “I think that sometimes it’s difficult to do in competitive athletics. Obviously, everybody looks at the scoreboard at the end of the day and there’s a winner and there’s a loser. My job is to help produce as many wins as possible.”

Shoniker spent the past five seasons on the University of Rhode Island staff and served as an associate head coach the last two. The Rams reached the Atlantic 10 championship game last season for the third time in program history and won a record 29 games in 2022-23 including playoffs.

URI also made back-to-back appearances in the Women’s NIT for the first time in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Shoniker was a standout player at Rhode Island from 2007 to 2010 and a two-year captain. She also played a year of professional basketball in Belarus.

Shoniker spent the better part of this week getting to know her players.

“Great first impression,” said rising senior guard Kenzie Matulonis who was a co-captain this past season. “You could tell right away her energy and her enthusiasm to be here was through the roof so that immediately sparked a lot of interest in our team. We’re really excited to have her.”

“I was really excited when I met her,” said rising sophomore guard Maggie Cavanaugh. “I feel like she has a really good vision for our team. She’s filled with a lot of energy and passion which is something we’ve all been looking forward to.”

Rich sought input from current players before embarking on the interview process.

“We told her we basically wanted a coach that was super honest and real, and a coach that was going to let us run and play basketball,” said rising senior guard Avery O’Connor. “I think (Shoniker) has been a perfect example of that in only three days of knowing her. I already have so much trust and respect for her. I think everyone on the team feels that way. When you have a culture of respect and trust there’s only one way to go and that’s up.”

“(Shoniker) is someone who wants to be part of this community and this family,” Matulonis added. “She has a lot of basketball knowledge. She kind of checked all of our boxes. We had a really long list. She definitely impressed.”

O’Connor considered transferring after Hogan stepped down.

“I had a couple of friends at URI, and they said (Shoniker) was an amazing coach,” O’Connor said. “They told me ‘Don’t leave, stay where you are.’ You’re going to love her. I trusted their advice and honestly after the first three days that was a good move.”

Shoniker plans to feature an up-tempo style but doesn’t want to force the issue.

“Overall, I want to be able to play fast,” she said. “I want to be able to play in transition. I want to be able to get the best shot for our team within really six to eight seconds. With that being said I’m a big believer in utilizing their strengths and finding a system that fits them best.”

“We’re obviously really close off the court but it’s all about that connection on the court,” Matulonis said. “It’s just continuing to build that trust with ourselves and with her as our new coach and finding a system that works for our team. Maybe bring in some new girls too andhopefully we’ll be on the uprise.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Former URI assistant Shoniker named UNH women's basketball coach