Marquette Adds Consuegra to Women's Basketball Staff

Marquette University has hired Cara Consuegra to join the coaching staff of the women's basketball team. Consuegra joins the women's basketball staff after spending three seasons as the Director of Basketball Operations at Penn State.

Consuegra fills the vacancy created by Jill Jameson, who stepped out of coaching. Consuegra's responsibilities at Marquette will include scouting, coordinating campus recruiting visits, on-the-court coaching and office administration.

"I am thrilled to have Cara join our coaching staff. She knows our goals and is excited to help make those goals a reality. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience having been an outstanding college player as well as having played in the WNBA,' head coach Terri Mitchell said. "That experience will be extremely valuable to her as a coach. In addition, she has been working with one of the top programs in the nation the last few years. Cara will be a wonderful addition to our staff and I couldn't be more pleased to have her join us."

No stranger to Marquette, Consuegra played against the Golden Eagles during her career at Iowa. A letterwinner from 1997-2001, Consuegra was a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2000-01. She was a second team selection in 1999-2000. During her four years at Iowa, Consuegra scored 1,147 points, averaging 10.5 per game. She was a scoring threat, hitting 40.7 percent from the floor, and a distributor, averaging 5.2 assists per game in her career.

She is Iowa's career assist leader (576), surpassing All-American Michelle Edwards, and she is only the 13th player in Big Ten history to record more than 1,000 points and 500 assists during a career and was the first woman at Iowa to do so. Additionally, she was selected as the Most Outstanding Player of the 2001 Big Ten Tournament as she led the Hawkeyes to a Big Ten Tournament title victory over top-seed Purdue, and led the Hawkeyes to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. Following the 2000-01 season, she was named an Honorable Mention All-American by The Associated Press and was a member of the Verizon Academic All-District Team.

Following her four seasons at Iowa, Consuegra spent one season in the WNBA, playing for the Utah Starzz in 2001.

"I'm really excited for the opportunity," Consuegra said. "Marquette is a program that is on the verge of something great, and I welcome the opportunity to step in. It felt like a good fit. I look forward to working with Terri and the whole staff. This seems like a place where I can learn and also have an impact on the decisions made in the program."

Consuegra's appointment at Marquette begins immediately.