Chelsea Bates is in her third season as a graduate assistant for the SWOSU Women’s Basketball team in 2017-18 after playing two seasons for the Lady Bulldogs.
Last season, Bates added another 20-win season to her coaching resume after the Dawgs finished 20-10 before falling in the semifinals of the GAC Tournament.
In her first season as an assistant coach, Bates helped the Lady Bulldogs to a 20-win season and a berth in the Great American Conference Tournament Championship game. SWOSU finished the year 20-11 and tied for third place in the GAC regular season standings with a 14-8 record.
As a senior, Bates was named a Second Team All-Great American Conference selection after leading the Lady Bulldogs in scoring with 12.6 points per game. She also had the highest assist-to-turnover ratio (1.83) in the league, led the GAC with 111 assists and ranked second with 61 steals. In two years at SWOSU, Bates appeared in 57 games, making 37 starts and she was a member of the Lady Bulldogs GAC Tournament Championship and NCAA Division II National Tournament qualifying team in 2013-14.
Before joining the Lady Bulldogs, Bates had a stellar two-year stint at Northern Oklahoma College – Enid, where she was named the NJCAA Region 2 MVP and a Second Team NJCAA All-American in 2012-13. In two years at NOC, her teams had a combined record of 53-12. Bates graduated from Thomas HS in 2011 after earning All-State honors for the Terriors as a senior and she was a member of two state championship teams: 2008 Cross Country and 2009 Track & Field.
A native of Thomas, Okla., Bates will earn her bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science from SWOSU in December 2015 before starting work on a master’s degree in Sports Management.
