Pam Ruder

Title:Head Coach

Email:ruderp@southwestern.edu

Phone:512-863-1335

Head Coach Pam Ruder
Ruder enters her fifth season as Southwestern University's head women's basketball coach. Prior to coming to Southwestern, Ruder, an UW-Whitewater alumna, spent all 15 seasons of her coaching career at UW-Oshkosh, and was a part of multiple NCAA Division III Tournament Appearances, a NCAA Championship and WIAC (Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) Championship teams. She started with the Titans' women's basketball team as an assistant coach from 1991 to 1996, working her way up the ladder to head coach in May of 1996.

Ruder has not had any trouble finding success on the court. In her nine years at the helm as a head coach for UW-Oshkosh, she has compiled an impressive 203-46 record (.815), making her the sixth winningest active coach in Division III. She is also the sixth winningest coach in the history of the WIAC. She guided her first UW-Oshkosh team to a 23-4 overall record, a NCAA Division III tournament berth and a second-place finish in the WIAC. In 1998, she guided the Titans to a 26-2 overall record, a quarterfinal round appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament and the WIAC Championship. The following season, Ruder coached UW-Oshkosh to a 27-2 overall record, another quarterfinal round appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament and a second straight WIAC title. Her efforts during that 1999 season gained her NCAA Division III Coach of the Year honors by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). In 2004-05 Ruder's Titans finished with a 22-6 overall record and advanced to the finals of the conference tournament before being edged by UW-Stout, 68-53.

A standout basketball player and three-year letter winner for UW-Whitewater, Ruder graduated from her alma mater with a bachelors degree in Business Education and a coaching minor in 1984 before receiving her MBA from UW-Oshkosh in 1992. Her accomplishments on the court as a player led her to being inducted in the UW-Whitewater Hall of Fame in 1999. Furthermore, she serves as the At-Large Division III Representative on the Executive Board of Directors for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).

Julie Wilke

Title:Assistant Coach

Email:wilkej@southwestern.edu

Phone:512-863-1154

Assistant Coach Julie Wilke
Julie Wilke enters her second season on the bench as assistant women's basketball coach for the Pirates, after serving in a volunteer assistant role during the 2007-2008 season. In addition to her assistant basketball coaching duties, she will serve as assistant coach for the Men's and Women's Track & Field programs.

Outside of the coaching ranks, Wilke recently completed her fourth season as quarterback of the Austin Outlaws, a women's professional football team competing in the National Women's Football Association (NWFA).

Prior to coming to Southwestern, Wilke worked in the private sector as a project manager for NuStats, a survey research firm based in Austin, TX. In 2006, she received a Master of Science degree in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas - Austin. From 2003-2004, Wilke completed two seasons as the girl's basketball coach at Durand Junior High School in Durand, IL, her hometown.

Coach Wilke is a 2002 graduate of Beloit College in Beloit, WI where she was a standout three-sport athlete in soccer, basketball, and track & field. Her accomplishments in track & field include two school records in sprint relays and two-time All-Conference recognition for her performance in the javelin. On the hardwood, Wilke was a three-time All-Conference selection and is currently fifth in school history in points scored and fourth in made 3-pointers.