96.9 The Jock ESPN Radio Springfield Missouri
SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State women’s basketball head coach Beth Cunningham announced today the hiring of Abby (Hipp) Emmert, who returns to her alma mater as an assistant coach.
Emmert spent the last two seasons serving as the Director of Scouting and Player Development at the University of Virginia under her former Lady Bears head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton. She was responsible for coding games and keeping statistical information for the coaches, producing scouting reports of opposing teams and assisting with post player development while at UVA.
She also gained valuable experience at Virginia while serving as co-director of basketball camps, as an FCA liaison and as the team’s community service coordinator.
Emmert, who was a member of the women’s basketball team for five seasons, graduated from Missouri State with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administrative Management in 2021 and a master’s degree in Business Administration in 2022.
On the court, Emmert collected 97 career wins which ranks eighth in program history. Across her career, Emmert scored 720 points, grabbed 439 rebounds and shot .511 from the field in 125 games, and earned All-Missouri Valley Conference honorable mention honors in 2021. During her five-year tenure, the Lady Bears made three NCAA Tournament appearances, including two trips to the Sweet 16. Emmert owned a .515 field goal percentage in NCAA Tournament games which ranks sixth in program history, while her .714 field goal percentage in the 2019 NCAA Tournament ranks fourth in Lady Bears history for a single tournament.
Also a star in the classroom, Emmert was a five-time member of the MVC Academic Honor Roll, a four-time recipient of the MVC Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award, and was given the MVC President’s Council Academic Excellence Award and earned a MVC Scholar-Athlete honorable mention selection in 2021 among other academic honors.
A native of Kansas City, Mo., Emmert graduated from St. Pius X where she was named Missouri Class 4 Player of the Year as a senior. She also earned all-conference and all-district honors in all four years of her high school career, was a three-time all-state selection and led her team to a state runner-up finish in 2017.
Emmert, and her husband Brandon, who played basketball at Drury University, were married in May 2023 and are expecting their first child in November.
Coach Cunningham on Emmert:
“I am extremely excited to welcome Abby back to Springfield and have her join our coaching staff. She is a great person first and foremost, who has a great work ethic, a desire to learn and is beloved in the Springfield community – making the choice to bring her back an easy one. Abby is one of the winningest Lady Bears in program history, and she values the history and understands the expectations of our program. We are thrilled to have Abby and her husband Brandon back in their home state as part of the Lady Bear family.”
Her hire is contingent upon formal approval by the Missouri State Board of Governors at its next meeting.
