Anahit Aladzhanyan, who was a part of four SCIAC championships as an assistant coach on the Occidental College women’s basketball team, has been named the squad’s interim head coach following Heidi VanDerveer’s departure for UC San Diego. 

“Heat,” as she’s known around campus, was on the bench for both of Oxy’s NCAA Division III playoff appearances in 2009 and 2011, and she has helped recruit some of Oxy’s current women’s basketball stars, including 2011-12 SCIAC Player of the Year Makenzie Brandon (Seattle).

She spent last season as the first assistant to the Oxy men’s basketball team, making her one of a only a handful of women in the nation coaching men’s collegiate basketball.

When VanDerveer decided to pursue the NCAA Division II coaching opportunity with the Tritons last week, the door opened up for Heat to fulfill her lifelong dream of being a collegiate head coach.

“Getting the opportunity to be a head coach has always been a goal of mine,”

Aladzhanyan said. “I’m so thankful for the opportunity and I’m honored to take over a program that has developed a tradition of excellence over the last 5-10 years.”

And as a product of the program herself, it’s one she knows well.

Aladzhanyan, 26, played three seasons at Oxy when athletic director Jaime Hoffman was the coach from 2005-07. By her senior season, she was the team captain and almost a player-coach as an extension of Hoffman on the floor.

“It makes it even sweeter that my dream has been fulfilled at a place that I’m so emotionally attached to,” Aladzhanyan said. “I’ve played here, I’ve coached here and I couldn’t imagine a better opportunity.”

Heat stayed on as Hoffman’s assistant coach in 2007 and quickly snatched up several other roles in the Oxy athletic department as Hoffman noticed her value.

She has recruited for various sports during coaching changes, serves on the Alcohol and Other Drugs and the Title IX Enforcement committees, and is the department’s senior woman administrator.

“I’ve been high on Heat’s basketball IQ ever since I met her. She’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever coached and she’ll do a great job as the new leader of the Tigers,” Hoffman said. “For the last five years, she’s shown her versatility in our department while refining her coaching skills. This is the perfect opening for her… She’s ready.”

Heat graduated from Occidental with a degree in psychology in 2007 and later earned her masters from Pepperdine in 2010.

Prior to Oxy, Heat was a two-year captain at Marshall High School in her native Los Angeles.

Oxy men’s coach Brian Newhall was the latest to work with Heat and after spending a year with her as his top assistant, the 24-year veteran said he thinks it’s a great fit.

“Heat is like 100s of qualified assistant coaches who are just waiting for an opportunity. She’s more than ready to take over her own program,” Newhall said. “I think her combination of basketball knowledge, her recruiting work ethic and her feel for the institution are going to make her an outstanding head basketball coach at Occidental.”

Lauren enters her first year as an assistant coach for the Occidental women’s basketball team. Prior to joining Oxy, Lauren spent six years assisting her high school coach, Wendy Triplett, at John Marshall. In addition to coaching, Foster also assisted Triplett as the Assistant Athletic Director.

Foster was a member of the Cal Poly Pomona Women’s Basketball team for two years before struggling with knee injuries. During her high school career she was named League MVP, First Team All League and First Team All City. She holds the career rebounds record at Marshall.

Lauren has a brother and an identical twin. 

Allison Clark enters her first year as the Occidental College community wellness director and an assistant coach for the Occidental women’s basketball team. Prior to accepting her new roles, AC spent the 2011-2012 athletic year working in the Oxy sports information office. She covered games, administered the Stretch broadcasting of Oxy sporting events and served as the primary contact for the Men’s Tennis, Women’s Tennis, and Softball teams.

Clark played basketball at Redlands where she was a captain and an All-SCIAC performer during her senior year. She graduated in 2011 with a degree in psychology.

In high school, she was named All-CIF at the Westridge School in Pasadena. She was also a member of the softball and golf teams.

Since 2009, Clark has worked Occidental’s summer youth basketball camps.

Clark is pursing a master’s degree in Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership from the University of Washington. She was born and raised in Altadena. 

Lindsay Allen joins the women's basketball coaching staff for her first year in 2012-13.

For the past four years, Allen has been coaching high school and club basketball. She was an assistant coach with the varsity programs at Canyon HS and Santa Margarita HS. 

Allen played at UC Irvine on a basketball scholarship. Before that, she played four years of high school basketball at Orange Lutheran where she was a First Team All-CIF selection, the Empire League MVP and the Empire League Athlete of the Year.

Allen is a US/World History teacher at Santa Margarita and she is currently pursuing a master's in teaching from Chapman University.