Molly Bateman just recently completed her fifth season as assistant coach for the Detroit Mercy women's basketball program in 2019-20. She was elevated to recruiting coordinator for the program in addition to her assistant coaching duties in May 2018.
"Molly has done a great job with leading our recruiting efforts since taking over the responsibility last season," Scott said at the time of her promotion. "She's really good with building relationships with recruits, parents and coaches! She deserves the recruiting coordinator title and will do a great job for our program in that role."
As part of head coach Bernard Scott's staff, Bateman helped coach the Titans to an 18-14 record and an appearance in the title game of the Horizon League Championship in 2016-17. That followed a 15-15 record in 2015-16 during her first year as a Titan assistant, including an 11-7 mark in Horizon League play and a fourth-place finish. It was the first winning season for Detroit Mercy since 2012-13 and the best conference record since 2011-12. The Titans also had a school-record 7-2 mark in league road games.
Detroit Mercy went 9-0 in Horizon League home games in 2016-17, including a 76-72 win over #21-ranked Green Bay at Calihan Hall, when the Titans tied a school-record with 16 triples made. The Titans earned double-figure victories over Cleveland State and Wright State in the 2017 Horizon League Championship at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit before falling to No. 1 Green Bay in the championship game.
The Titans, which primarily played the season with eight players in 2015-16, broke school records for 3-pointers made in a season (234) and set a new program mark in free-throw percentage. Detroit Mercy also led the Horizon League in league games in field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage. The Titans then broke the mark for 3-pointers made (259) in a season again the following season in 2016-17.
Bateman helped mentor guard Nicole Urbanick, who led the Horizon League in 3-pointers made per game (2.77), which also ranked 19th in the NCAA. Urbanick made 83 triples during the 2015-16 season, while Urbanick, Haleigh Ristovski and Rosanna Reynolds all surpassed 100 3-pointers for their careers.
Urbanick broke the career 3-pointers record as a senior in 2017-18, surpassing the career mark and establishing a new record with 242 made triples. In addition, Anja Marinkovic was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team in 2016-17 and surpassed 100 career triples in just two seasons as a sophomore in 2017-18.
Guard Rosanna Reynolds was named First Team All-Horizon League and forward Brianne Cohen was voted the Horizon League Sixth Player of the Year. Detroit Mercy had three scorers in the top 10 in the conference -- Cohen, Reynolds and Urbanick. Reynolds broke the career record for assists (552) in a Titan uniform following her senior season in 2016-17 and also finished third in school history (1,745 points).
In the classroom, Reynolds was also selected as the Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the Season, while Reynolds and Ristovskiwere each named to the six-member Horizon League Women's Basketball All-Academic Team.
Bateman helped mentor wing Zoey Oatis during her four years as a Titan. Oatis led the Titans in steals in each of the final three seasons, surpassing 120 steals in her Titan career. Lexey Tobel was the second Titan to earn All-Freshman Team honors in the Horizon League during Bateman's five seasons as an assistant, earning the nod in 2017-18.
Bateman also coached Sylare Starks, who was the third Titan to earn HL All-Freshman Team laurels, as she led all league freshmen in scoring at 10.1 points per game in 2019-20. Starks was also seventh in the HL in 3-pointers made, with her 50 marks ranking third all-time in Detroit Mercy women's basketball freshman history.
Bateman, a former Mount Union and Averett assistant coach, was announced as an assistant for the Detroit women's basketball team in late June 2015, after head coach Bernard Scott took over leadership of the program.
"I am so happy to have Molly joining our coaching staff," said coach Scott at the time she was hired. "She's a hard worker, very organized and will bring a lot of energy to our program."
Bateman joined Detroit Mercy after spending two seasons as an assistant coach with Mount Union College, helping the Raiders to a trip to the second round of the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championship in 2013-14. During her stint, Mount Union earned 11 academic All-OAC selections and Annie Bova was twice tabbed All-OAC performer.
Prior to her stop in her home state, she served as an assistant coach for two seasons at Averett University in Danville, Virginia. With the Cougars, she coached four USA South Conference selections in her first stop as a coach.
A native of New Weston, Ohio, Bateman graduated from Defiance College, where she earned four varsity letters as a standout shooting guard. As a senior, she was a co-captain and tallied a career-best 10.1 points per game, earning Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Honorable Mention honors as well as securing a place on the All-Sportsmanship Team.
Bateman was also the Defiance College Female Sportsmanship Award winner in 2011 and made the dean's list all four years.
She graduated from Defiance College in 2011 with a degree in social work with a minor in autism studies and received a master's in business administration from Averett University in 2013.
