FORT WORTH, Texas - Texas Wesleyan head women's basketball coach Stacy Francis was named Red River Athletic Conference co-coach of the year by conference coaches on Tuesday.
     
     She shares the conference honor with Shane Brown of Houston Baptist.

     Francis led the Lady Rams to a 22-9 record and a second place finish in conference with a 17-5 conference record. The 22 victories were the fourth most in school history. It was also the most victories since the 1985-86 season when the Lady Rams finished 23-8.

     "It is definitely an honor to be recognized by your peers," Francis said. "My team really responded for me this season and everyone meshed well together."

     The Austin, Texas native, also produced three all-conference players this year in senior Ashley Walker, junior Kashae Townsend and sophomore Shawndrika Courtney. The Lady Rams won 11 of their last 12 games of the season.

     Francis took over at Texas Wesleyan in the 2000-01 season where her inaugural team finished 1-24. She guided the Lady Rams to a 13-19 record last year, qualifying the team for the conference playoffs. This season, Francis has surely completed one of the biggest turnarounds that the Wesleyan women's basketball program has ever seen. The Lady Rams were picked to finish ninth in the RRAC preseason poll. They finished only two points from an automatic bid to the national tournament. Maybe now, other teams in this conference will respect the Lady Rams and Coach Francis.