Tanya Warren honored with YWCA Professional Woman of the Year award
4/14/2023 1:34:00 PM | Women's Basketball
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI head women's basketball coach Tanya Warren has been recognized as the 2023 recipient of Black Hawk County's Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) Professional Woman of the Year award. The Panther head coach, who just completed her 16th season as the helm of UNI's women's basketball program, was honored last Thursday afternoon at the Cedar Valley Women of Persimmon awards banquet at the Hilton Garden Inn in Cedar Falls.
The award, which has been given out annually since 2007, is presented to any woman who has lived out the YWCA's mission, personally and professionally, by creating and advancing opportunities for all women to seek equality and self-sufficiency.
"I am extremely honored and grateful to be recognized by the YWCA as the recipient of this prestigious award," said Coach Warren. "All of my life I have been blessed to be surrounded by incredible individuals who have had a positive impact in my life, and I feel it is my responsibility to pay it forward. I know I will always be judged on our ability to win basketball games, but to be honored for making a positive impact in young females lives is simply priceless, and is the most rewarding part of my job."
"We were all very excited for Tanya as she received this much deserved recognition," said UNI Director of Athletics David Harris. "Receiving this award shows that UNI Athletics is just one entity that benefits from who she is everyday. Our entire community has benefited from her time, talents and dedication. Tanya Warren is a pioneer, a trailblazer and a role model for women everywhere, but especially the young women in our basketball program. We are incredibly fortunate to have her as our head coach."
Warren, a Des Moines, Iowa native and former standout basketball player at Creighton University, has been the head women's basketball coach at UNI since 2007 and has led the Panthers to new heights during her tenure. With 306 career victories, Warren is UNI's all-time leader in wins, and leads the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) with 517 games coached in the league as the conference's longest tenured active women's coach.
The Panthers won their first MVC Tournament title under Warren in 2010 to reach the program's first NCAA Tournament in school history, and returned to the big dance again in 2011 and 2016. Under Warren's leadership, UNI has participated in postseason basketball in 12 of her 16 seasons, including 8 of the last 9 years, including its deepest postseason run in 2021 to the semifinal round of the WNIT.
A three-time MVC Coach of the Year, Warren has coached 24 All-MVC selections, as well as four MVC Scholar-Athletes of the Year, and two-time MVC Player of the Year in Jacqui Kalin (2011, 2013).
The YWCA was established in 1858 as a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity.