Fort Wayne, Indiana – Maria Marchesano has resigned as the Purdue Fort Wayne women’s basketball coach to become the next head coach at Butler University. The mutual parting of ways by Butler and former head coach Austin Parkinson immediately sent shockwaves up I-69, and it didn’t take long for the Bulldogs to call on one of their alums to turn their program around.
Marchesano was the head coach for the ‘Dons for five seasons. Her teams tallied a combined record of 94-76, but posted a very impressive 71-36 record in the last three seasons. In those three seasons, the Mastodons appeared in the WNIT each postseason with runs to the Super 16, Great 8, and Super 16. The Great 8 run was the end of a historic season in Fort Wayne with a program high 27 wins, including a program high 18 conference wins and program regular season and postseason finishes coming as runner-ups to Green Bay in each chase.
Marchesano improved each of the first four years upon a team that only tallied one win the season before her control, and “built a program where competing for a Horizon League Championship is the expectation each season. The teams she guided in her five seasons connected with this city and university in ways which will always be remembered” as said by Purdue Fort Wayne Athletic Director Kelley Hartley Hutton.
In her first season, the pressure from the outside could not have been lower for Maria Marchesano. She was taking the reigns of a team that only scraped one win in the season prior. The internal pressure could not have been higher for the Fort Wayne native. This was her first time coaching in front of her community that she grew up in. After leading Mount St. Mary’s to their first ever NCAA appearance in the 2020-2021, Marchesano looked closer to home for a challenge. The nine wins (including two via forfeit due to COVID-19 cases on the opposing team), were the most wins since the 2014-2015 season in Fort Wayne.
In the second season, the Marchesano offensive system showed its promise. The team made nearly eight three-pointers a game and nearly half of all of the shot attempts on the season would come from beyond the arc. The season saw a matchup between the Sellers sisters as PFW’s Shayla Sellers would get to play against #15 Maryland’s and future WNBA draft pick Shyanne Sellers in Fort Wayne.
The ‘Dons would record a 14-19 record for double digit wins for the first time since 2013-2014 and finish 6th in the Horizon League regular season for the best regular season conference finish since that same 2013-2014 season. It would also be the Mastodons’ first trip to Indianapolis in the Horizon League tournament as they would give Green Bay a scare in the semifinal game before falling 65-69.
The 2023-2024 season was the first 20-win season since 2010-2011 as members of the Summit League and the second since the turn of the century. The core of Amelia Bromenschenkel, Jazzlyn Linbo, Shayla Sellers, Audra Emmerson, and Destinee Marshall were destined to make a statement in the Horizon League.
Along with arguably Marchesano’s strongest freshman class at the time, the core would face off against Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Gulf Coast Showcase, and finish the invitational with two convincing wins over similar caliber league teams in Delaware and Western Kentucky. The season would result in the first WNIT berth for the program, and the team would beat Eastern Kentucky and steamroll Cincinnati 84-58 with an iconic Emmerson half court heave before falling to St. Louis by four in the Super 16.
The record setting 2024-2025 season will be one that the Fort Wayne faithful will not forget. A record setting 27 wins and 18 in conference made established Maria Marchesano as a true winner in the Hoosier state. Returning nearly their entire starting five, the Mastodons added some weapons by the names of Lauren Ross and Sydney Freeman. After a challenging non-conference schedule, the Mastodons rattled off a historic 17-game win streak, including 15 straight Horizon League wins. The second of the 15 wins was the programs first ever win over Green Bay. Ross would end the year as the nation’s top three-point shooter and free-throw shooter by percentage.
The 2025-2026 could have been some serious whiplash from the historic season before and the near complete exodus of a team due to eligibility exhaustion, but Marchesano & Co. reloaded and made another shot at the Horizon League title and earned another post season bid. The recruitment of NAIA All-Americans Alana Nelson and Lauren Lee as well as a strong freshman class paired with a re-engergized Jordan Reid responded with 21 wins and a stout 14-3 home record.
Highlights of the season included the home opener win over Purdue, thanks to a Rylee Bess dagger and the second win over Green Bay in as many years to start a postseason run that ended at the hands of Green Bay, and a WNIT run that ended at the buzzsaw of Arkansas State’s three-point shooting.
She will take over a Butler squad that wrapped up a 12-19 record in the 2025-2026 season. Three of those wins were over Horizon League teams – Wright State, Northern Kentucky, and Milwaukee all by double digits. Butler fans should all be familiar with Marchesano. The 2005 alum ended the Bulldogs’ 2024-2025 season in the Great 8 in Fort Wayne.
The former Bulldog sharpshooter returns to Hinkle Fieldhouse in hopes of pushing the former MCC/Horizon League Butler Bulldogs into the upper levels of the Big East. Butler women’s basketball has not won a Big East tournament game in the last eight seasons, and has not won two conference tournament games since leaving the Horizon League in 2012. Butler was a one year member of the Atlantic-10 in the 2012-2013 season.
What now for the Mastodons? Purdue Fort Wayne now has the ever growing challenge of finding a new leader to maintain the upper end status of the Horizon League. Purdue Fort Wayne is left with a massive hole to fill as the portal has already opened. This will likely lead to the departure of some Mastodons that would have otherwise stayed. The late decision by Butler and Parkinson has really complicated the offseason for the ‘Dons, and a national search for a new head coach will start immediately per the Purdue Fort Wayne press release.
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