Pamela Rush

Pamela Rush joined the coaching staff in 2019. The former Lewis & Clark women’s basketball head coach, Rush led the biggest wins turnaround in NCAA Division III during her first season.

Prior to her time at Lewis & Clark, Rush had a four-year tenure as an assistant at Washington and Lee in Lexington, Va. She coached two seasons for the Pioneers, the last of which was 2017-18 when she was hired at Macalester in Minnesota.

In her first season with the Pioneers, Rush led Lewis & Clark back to the Northwest Conference tournament after a three-year hiatus. The team finished with 16 wins after a 3-22 record the season before Rush arrived, elevating the Pios to the best year-over-year turnaround in all of NCAA Division III.

From 2012-16, Rush was an assistant coach on the staff that led Washington and Lee to increased victories and playoff progression. In that time, the Generals went from single-digit win totals to 16 and 17 victories in each of her last two seasons. During the 2016 season, Washington and Lee made the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament semifinals, with two of Rush’s prior three teams making the quarterfinals.

Prior to Washington and Lee, Rush was a member of the women’s basketball staff at Bemidji State in Minnesota as a graduate assistant coach. There, she earned a Master of Science degree in sports studies.

Rush competed at guard for the United States Air Force Academy where she was a four-year letter winner. Her senior season, she was an All-Mountain West Conference Honorable Mention selection after averaging 10.7 points per game and serving as team captain. A four-time Mountain West Conference Scholar-Athlete and two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree, she ranks 16th on the school’s all-time scoring list with 955 points.

Rush is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association.