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Women's Basketball Coaching Staff
Co-Head
Coach Bruce Tallon
Bruce Tallon is in his fourth year as the head women's basketball coach and this past season was named co-Coach of the Year along with Missy West in the Sunrise Conference after guiding the Roos to the regular season conference championship.
Tallon began the women's basketball program at the former Mater Dei College in Ogdensburg and built the program into an NJCAA Region III powerhouse. He won over 150 games during his tenure at Mater Dei and sent numerous players on to four-year colleges and coached several junior college All-Americans. Tallon twice led the Crusaders into the Region III, Division II finals and in 1995 he was named Region III Coach of the Year.
Following the closure of Mater Dei, Tallon was an assistant coach with the women's basketball team at SUNY Canton for two years and then joined the women's basketball program at St. Lawrence University as an assistant coach. In his first season he helped guide the Saints into the Division III National Championship game and the next year helped them go undefeated in the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association and gain another berth in the national tournament.
Prior to coaching in college, Tallon started the girl's basketball program at Long Lake High School where he also coached boy's basketball and girl's softball.
Tallon received an associate's degree in applied science from Cobleskill College, his bachelor's degree in business education from Castleton State College in Vermont, and he did his graduate work at SUNY Plattsburgh, the United States Sports Academy, Albany State College, and Azusa Pacific College.
Tallon is also the Coordinator of the Claxton Learning Center at the Ogdensburg Boys and Girls Club and just recently received a New York State Service Award for 30 years of coaching.
tallon@canton.edu
(315) 386-7921
Co-Head
Coach Missy West
Missy West is in her fourth year with the women's basketball team and first as co-head coach. This past season West and Bruce Tallon were named co-Coaches of the Year in the Sunrise Conference after guiding the Roos to the regular season conference championship.
West played in 96 career games at Duke University and averaged 4.7 points and 1.5 rebounds per game while dishing out 75 assists and grabbing 65 steals. Upon graduation she was 13th in school history in three-pointers made (75), 13th in three-point attempts (219), and 14th in three-point percentage (.342).
Over her five years at Duke she helped guide the Blue Devils to a 130-36 record, two Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament titles and three regular season titles. She helped the Blue Devils reach the NCAA championship game in 1999, to the elite eight in 1998, and into the sweet 16 in 2000. Following the ACC Tournament her junior year she was named to the All-Tournament Second Team after scoring 42 points in three games while sinking eight three-pointers. Entering Duke she was named the ACC pre-season Rookie of the Year as a freshman, becoming the first Duke women's basketball player to earn such honor.
Following her stint at Duke West played professional basketball in Germany for one year in Wolfenbuettel and two seasons in Gottingen. In her first year with Gottingen she led them to an undefeated season and the second division German Championship averaging 25.0 points and 7.0 rebounds a game. The following year she was named captain and averaged 17.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 steals a game.
Prior to Duke and Germany, West amassed quite a career at Malone Central School as a four-time letter winner in soccer, basketball, and softball. She was named the New York State Three-Sport Female Athlete of the Year as a senior and was named Miss New York State in basketball that same year after averaging 28.0 points per game. She was an Honorable Mention All-American by USA Today in both her junior and senior years and was also named league MVP for four straight years. She was Malone's first female athlete to have her jersey retired in three different sports.
west103@canton.edu
(315) 386-7921