Season in 2025-26: 4th Season
Career Record at NMU: 60-32 (38-18 GLIAC)
Career Record Overall (DII): 96-73
Thousand was hired as the head coach of the Wildcats in May of 2022.
Thousand led the Wildcats to a 23-9 record in 2024-25 in which they earned the No. 2 seed in the GLIAC Tournament with a 15-5 conference record. The 23 wins tied for the most since the 2000-01 season. Northern made their second straight NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Round of 32 after a 61-56 victory over Hillsdale. NMU started the season 8-0, its best start in 25 seasons. Under Thousand's leadership, Northern also recorded four 30+ point wins in GLIAC play, the first time they've had any in the past five seasons. Jacy Weisbrod was named to the D2CCA All-Midwest Region Second Team and All-GLIAC First Team, Abi Fraaza was named the GLIAC Sixth Woman of the Year, and Sarah Newcomer earned a spot on the All-GLIAC Second Team.
In 2023-24, the Wildcats finished 22-10 and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. NMU advanced to the Round of 32 with a dominating 69-56 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan in which Jacy Weisbrod scored a career-high 29 points and tied a program record with nine triples. The Wildcats finished as the No. 3 seed in the GLIAC and advanced to the championship game after a 63-56 upset victory over No. 2 Ferris State. Makaylee Kuhn was named to the All-GLIAC First Team, Weisbrod landed on the Second Team, and Ana Rhude earned her spot on the All-Defensive Team.
In her first season at the helm in 2022-23, Thousand led the Green and Gold to a 15-13 record, its most wins since the 2018-19 season. The team earned the No. 4 seed in the GLIAC Tournament and hosted a quarterfinals game. Under her leadership, Makaylee Kuhn was tabbed to the All-GLIAC First Team and earned a Wildcat Award for Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Ana Rhude was selected to the All-Defensive Team, and the team earned a Wildcat Award for Community Engagement. The team excelled in the classroom, with 10 total student-athletes earning spots on the 2022-23 GLIAC All-Academic Team.
She returned to the NMU sideline after serving as assistant coach from 2016-18 and associate head coach in 2018-19. Since then, Thousand had served as the head women’s basketball coach at the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) for three seasons.
While at UIS, Thousand led the Prairie Stars to an improved record each season. UIS had an overall mark of 17-11 in 2021-22, its best overall season in 23 seasons with a program-record 11 wins in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC). Hosting and winning a first-round GLVC tournament game, defeating Division I Bradley University on the road, and seeing two student-athletes recognized on the All-GLVC teams were among the other notable accomplishments for the Prairie Stars this past season with Thousand at the helm. UIS’ leading scorer Lauren Ladowski improved each season under Thousand, going from All-GLVC Third Team in 2019-20, to Second Team in 2020-21, to First Team honors this past season.
In her three years at UIS, Thousand’s teams saw success on the hardwood and in the classroom. In 2019-20, the Prairie Stars had 10 GLVC Academic All-Conference honorees with a team grade point average (GPA) of 3.56, the best in program history. In 2020-21, UIS had eight student-athletes earn GLVC Academic All-Conference recognition.
Before her head coach position at UIS, Thousand spent three seasons working with Troy Mattson at NMU. In those campaigns, the Wildcats went 55-36. In 2018-19, NMU was 23-10, reaching the GLIAC Championship game and making a run to the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinals. Thousand’s duties while at NMU included leading student-athletes on and off the court, developing and implementing fundraising activities, managing the program’s budgets, running camps and clinics, scouting opponents, and breaking down game film.
On top of her coaching duties, Thousand served as an adjunct professor in Northern’s Department of Health and Human Performance from 2016-19 and was the student-athlete advisory committee (SAAC) supervisor from 2018-19.
Prior to her time in Marquette, Thousand was the head coach at Division III Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin. From 2009-16, Edgewood compiled a 74-57 record in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference games with 15 all-conference accolades and four conference tournament appearances.
Thousand was formerly an assistant coach at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin from 2006-09 where the team went 51-28 over those three seasons. In the 2005-06 season, Thousand was an assistant at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois where the team boasted a 26-3 record.
Thousand graduated from Lakeland College in Sheboygan, Wisconsin in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sports and Facility Management and a minor in Business. She earned her Masters of Education with an emphasis in leadership from Carthage College in 2009. In 2021, Thousand completed her Women in Leadership Certification at Cornell University in Springfield, Illinois.
A four-year all-conference player at Lakeland College, Thousand was a standout performer and natural leader, guiding the team to an undefeated conference season and an NCAA Tournament berth in her senior year.
NMU Coaching Career
| Season |
GP |
W |
L |
League |
W |
L |
Finish |
| 2022-23 |
28 |
15 |
13 |
GLIAC |
10 |
8 |
4th |
| 2023-24 |
32 |
22 |
10 |
GLIAC |
13 |
5 |
3rd |
| 2024-25 |
32 |
23 |
9 |
GLIAC |
15 |
5 |
2nd |
| Total |
92 |
60 |
32 |
|
38 |
18 |
|
