(SAN DIEGO) PLNU Women's Basketball has its new leader.
Point Loma alumna
Carlotta Kloppenburg-Pruitt has been tabbed as Head Coach of her alma mater, Athletic Director Jordan Courneya announced.
Kloppenburg-Pruitt returns to The Point after spending the last five seasons as Head Coach at Southern Oregon.
"Carlotta's experience at the WNBA, high-major Division I, mid-major Division I, low-major Division I, and NAIA levels gives her a unique perspective that few coaches possess," Courneya said. "Combined with her proven ability to build winning programs and develop student-athletes, we believe she is the right person to lead our Women's Basketball program into its next chapter."
During her five seasons at SOU, Kloppenburg-Pruitt accumulated a 134-31 (.812) overall record, leading the Raiders to the NAIA National Tournament every season. That included in 2024-25 when she was named the NAIA Coach of the Year by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association after leading Southern Oregon to a 34-0 start to the season on its way to the national quarterfinals.
"Point Loma is a special place where faith, academics, and athletics fit together, and as an alum, I know exactly what it takes to thrive here," Kloppenburg-Pruitt said. "I am incredibly grateful to President Kerry Fulcher and Jordan Courneya for trusting me to come back and lead this program."
The three-time Cascade Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year led SOU to two CCC regular season championships and three CCC Tournament titles, while the Raiders were an NAIA Scholar Team in all five of her seasons.
Southern Oregon ranked in the top-15 nationally in points allowed per game every season under her leadership, and was in the top-7 in defensive rating in three of those years.
"Leaving Southern Oregon is an incredibly tough decision because the players and the community there mean the world to me, and I will always be proud of what we built together," Kloppenburg-Pruitt said. "Ultimately, the chance to come home and give back to my alma mater is exactly where I am supposed to be.
"We are going to build a culture here centered on toughness, togetherness, and competing at the highest level every single day. I can't wait to get to work."
Kloppenburg-Pruitt played for Point Loma in 2012-13 and 2013-14 during the school's transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II, averaging 10.0 points per game her first season and twice earning Academic All-PacWest honors. She then graduated from PLNU with a bachelor's degree in exercise and sports science.
The Point Loma alumna then spent 2014 and 2015 as a coaching intern in the WNBA spending time with the Los Angeles Sparks and Indiana Fever. While pursuing a master's degree in sports fitness and administration at Winthrop University, she served as a graduate assistant/video coordinator before being promoted to assistant coach.
From there, she was the Assistant Director of Basketball Operations and Assistant Recruiting Coordinator at Arizona State from 2016-18 before serving for three seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at San Jose State, helping the Spartans post the largest single-season win turnaround in the country.
Kloppenburg-Pruitt comes from an extensive family coaching tree, as her father Gary has coached in the WNBA since 2000, including in 2020 when he was the interim head coach for the WNBA champion Seattle Storm. Her grandfather Bob Kloppenburg spent 17 years coaching in the NBA.
She replaces Charity Elliott, who spent the last five seasons as PLNU Women's Basketball Head Coach before accepting an assistant coaching position at TCU.
"I want to express my sincere gratitude to both Charity Elliott and
Grace Ricafranca for the incredible leadership, commitment, and impact they have had on our Women's Basketball program," Courneya said. "We were intentional throughout this process in identifying a select pool of candidates who not only possessed exceptional basketball knowledge, but who also aligned with the mission and values of Point Loma Nazarene University.
"The quality of our finalists made this one of the most difficult coaching decisions I've been a part of.
PLNU Women's Basketball is coming off three-straight NCAA West Regional appearances for the first time in program history.
"Our vision is to be the premier program in the West Region, where faith and character drive excellence and create a culture of champions," Courneya said. "We believe Carlotta is the right leader to build upon the outstanding foundation already in place and continue moving our program forward."
