COACHING STAFF

KATE POPOVEC  |  ASSISTANT COACH

Popovec was named the associate head coach of the Wildcats in August of 2021.

A former Wildcat student-athlete, Kate Popovec started her career as an assistant coach for the Northwestern women's basketball team in 2017. In the spring of 2018, Popovec was named both the Recruiting Coordinator and the Defensive Coordinator.

Popovec works primarily with forwards and centers and was instrumental in the growth of Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah. The 2019 graduate was a two-time All-Big Ten selection (First Team in '19), and just the second player in program history to reach the 1,000 rebound mark. Kunaiyi-Akpanah went on to play professionally in Italy. Kunaiyi-Akpanah also represented her home country, Nigeria, in the 2020 Olympics, as well as winning the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket with the Nigerian National Team in 2021. Popovec also coached Abbie Wolf and Abi Scheid through the Wildcat's regular season Big Ten Championship in 2019-20. Scheid was named to the All Big Ten First Team in the post-season and finished her career with 1,146 points. She finished second in the nation in 3PT% (47.7%) her final year as a Wildcat. Wolf was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten her senior season. She went on to play professionally in Spain, spending her first year overseas with Club Deportivo Zamarat. She now plays for Barça CBS in Barcelona.

In her first season as the defensive coordinator, she guided Northwestern to the best scoring defense in Big Ten Play in the 2018-19 campaign, allowing just 60.9 points per game. In the 2020-21 season, the Wildcats led the Big Ten in forced turnovers a game (20.7) and were second in the Big Ten in steals (11.48 per game). Nationally, the ‘Cats ranked 9th in steals and 14th in forced turnovers that year.

In her first year, guard Veronica Burton led the league in steals with 2.6 per game, while the team finished the season forcing over 16 turnovers per contest. Burton went on to earn Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in her sophomore campaign, leading the conference in steals (100). Following the 2020-21 season, Burton led the nation in steals per game (3.84) and total steals on the year (96). She was also named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row as a junior.

As the recruiting coordinator, Popovec oversees all facets of recruiting organization. She helped bring in the Class of 2024, featuring Paige Mott, Anna Morris and Jasmine McWilliams. Morris is a five star recruit with scout's grade of 96 according to ESPN, ranking 11th at her position and in the top-50 overall for her class.

She also oversaw the recruitment of the Class of 2025, ranked No. 10 in the country according to ESPN, the second highest ranking in the Big Ten. The class includes Hailey Weaver, Jillian Brown, Mel Daley, Caileigh Walsh and Mercy Ademusayo. ESPN ranked Weaver as No. 35 recruit overall while Brown came in at No. 50.

Popovec had previously served as Director of Player Development for the Wildcats from 2014-16. She was then hired as an assistant coach at Colgate, a position she held during the 2016-17 season. During her tenure as Director of Player Development, the Wildcats made their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1997 in the 2015 season.

In the summer of 2021, Popovec was invited to the prestigious 2021 TopConnect Basketball Virtual Symposium presented by Teamworks and INLCR. TopConnect (formerly Villa 7) identifies the top assistant basketball coaches in the country and connects them with mid-major Athletic Directors providing tremendous networking and leadership development opportunities for both parties.

Prior to coaching, Popovec attended and played at Northwestern from 2011-13 during her junior and senior years after transferring from Pittsburgh. She earned Academic All-Big Ten honors each season at Northwestern.

Following her senior campaign, Popovec was chosen as Northwestern's female recipient of the 2013 Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship award. She was also named a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar after the 2012-13 season.

Since June of 2020, Popovec has served as the secretary of the Melina Michelle Edenfield Foundation, a nonprofit organization established in memory of her late niece, Melina Michelle Edenfield.  Melina passed away after a 32 battle with a Diffuse Midline Glioma, a very aggressive brain tumor most commonly found in children.  All funds raised by MMEF go directly toward pediatric brain tumor and cancer research.  Popovec is engaged to Oliver Goss.

PRESTON REID  |  ASSISTANT COACH

Preston Reid joined the Wildcat coaching staff in 2018. During his first season, Reid helped the team reach the championship game in the WNIT.

Reid primarily works with Northwestern's guards and handles scheduling for the program. In his time with the program, Reid has helped grow one of the best backcourts in the Big Ten, featuring Lindsey Pulliam, Veronica Burton, Sydney Wood and Jordan Hamilton.

Pulliam was an All-Big Ten selection in Reid's first season and earned a selection to USA Basketball in the summer of 2019 to play in the Pan-Am games, where the squad won a silver medal. After the Big Ten Championship season in 2019-20, Pulliam was a unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten First Team. In the 2021 WNBA Draft, Pulliam was the 27th overall pick, going to the Atlanta Dream. She now plays overseas with Elazig Il Özel Idare.

Meanwhile, Burton led the Big Ten in steals in back-to-back seasons, including being named Big Ten Defensive player of the year two years in a row. She finished the 2020-21 season leading the NCAA in steals per game (3.84) and total steals on the year (96). In the summer of 2021, Burton won a gold medal with Team USA at the FIBA AmeriCup in Puerto Rico.

Following the 2020-21 season, both Burton and Pulliam, along with Wood, earned All-Big Ten honors.

In the 2019-20 season, with Reid overseeing scheduling, Northwestern's non-conference strength of schedule ranked in the top 25th percentile in the country. Their overall strength-of-schedule ranked in the top-20.

Reid coached at Akron for six seasons, spending two years as a graduate assistant before moving up to assistant coach in 2014. He helped lead the Zips to the MAC Tournament semifinals in 2016 and mentored Akron senior Sina King in her campaign for Mid-American Conference MVP and All-America Honorable Mention in 2015. During his time as an assistant, the Zips made two appearances in the WNIT tournament.

Prior to his coaching career, Reid gained experience in video coordination and film breakdown working with Florida State, the NBA's Indiana Pacers, and the WNBA's Indiana Fever. Reid received his bachelor's degree in English Education from Ball State in 2011, where he also worked as a practice player, head manager, and video coordinator for the basketball team. He earned a master's degree in 2014 in sport science and coaching from Akron.

Reid lives in Chicago with his wife Courtney, who played four seasons of women's basketball at Miami of Ohio from 2009 to 2013 and was a two-time All-MAC First Team selection.

TANGELA SMITH  |  ASSISTANT COACH

One of the most accomplished WNBA players in history, Tangela Smith joined the Wildcats as an assistant coach for the Northwestern women's basketball team in 2018.  Smith was the No. 12 overall pick by the Sacramento Monarchs in the 1998 WNBA draft. In her WNBA career, she played for the Sacramento Monarchs, Charlotte Sting, Phoenix Mercury, Indiana Fever, and San Antonio Silver Stars. The Chicago native became just the seventh player in WNBA history to record 4,000 career points during her 15-year career.  She also won 2 WNBA Championships for the Phoenix Mercury and was selected as a WNBA All-Star while playing for the Charlotte Sting. She retired from the WNBA in 2012, ranking in the top-10 in history in points, rebounds, blocks, field goals made, field goals attempted, and minutes played. On Friday, August 13, 2010, she became the WNBA's all-time leader in games played with 411 in 13 seasons. In the WNBA offseason, Smith played professional basketball in several countries such as Italy, Israel, South Korea, Turkey, China, Hungary, Poland and many more. She won 3 championships in Turkey, China and Korea while playing overseas.

Smith’s primary responsibilities for the Wildcats is post player development as well as the overall skill development of the team. In her first season with the Wildcats, she helped to develop the post play of Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah who went on to play professionally in Italy. Kunaiyi-Akpanah also represented her home country, Nigeria, in the 2020 Olympics, as well as winning the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket with the Nigerian National team in 2021.

In her second season with Northwestern, Smith coached Abbie Wolf and Abi Scheid through a regular season Big Ten championship. Scheid was named to the All-Big Ten First team for her senior campaign while Wolf earned honorable mention. Smith was instrumental in Wolf's development throughout her career and senior season. Wolf now plays professionally in Spain with Barça CBS, after spending her first year overseas with Club Deportivo Zamarat.

Smith, a standout student-athlete at The University of Iowa, came to Chicago's Big Ten Team after spending four seasons on the sidelines at Western Michigan following an outstanding WNBA career.

While at Iowa, Smith was named Big Ten Player of the Year in 1998 and was a first team All-Big Ten pick in 1996 and 1998. She led the Hawkeyes to Big Ten championships in both of those seasons and a conference tournament title in 1997. She finished her collegiate career ranked first in school history in blocks, third in rebounds, and seventh in scoring.

Born and raised in Chicago, IL, Smith attended George Washington High School in Chicago, where she was named a 1994 Kodak High School All-American. She also earned All-America honors from the WBCA and played in the WBCA High School All-America Game. Smith was also a member of the 1997 USA Basketball Jones Cup team that won the silver medal in Taipei, Taiwan.

Smith earned a Bachelor of Science degree in sports, health, leisure, and physical studies from the University of Iowa in 1998 and later received her master's in sports management from Western Michigan.

IVY ABIONA  |  DIRECTOR OF PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

Ivy Abiona enters her first season as Director of Player Development in 2020-21. Prior to Northwestern, Abiona spent several years in New York City working in Youth Management.

The Cherry Hill, NJ native, Abiona played on The George Washington University women's basketball team from 2006 - 2011. During her five seasons with GW, Abiona helped the team reach back-to-back NCAA Division I Sweet Sixteen appearances, and a trip to the WNIT. She served as a team captain from 2008 - 2011. Following her graduate studies at GW, Abiona spent four years playing professionally in Australia, Finland, Spain, & Peru.

A double alumnus of The George Washington University, Abiona earned her bachelor's degree in Speech and Hearing, and her master's degree in Public Health in 2010 and 2012, respectively.

OLLIE GOSS  |  DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Ollie Goss moved into his new role as Director of Basketball Operations prior to the 2019-20 season after previously serving as the team's assistant director of operations and primarily handling video operations the year before.

Goss' primary duties include coordinating team travel, assisting with academic progress, community outreach and marketing.

In 2017, Goss earned a masters degree in sports administration from Northwestern University’s School of Professional Studies while working as a graduate manager for the men’s basketball team. As a graduate manager, he helped the Wildcats earn their first trip to the NCAA tournament in school history. Goss also gained experience at the IMG Academy where he completed a basketball operations internship with their men’s basketball program.

Prior to returning to Northwestern, Goss worked as a recruiting coordinator at Next College Student Athlete where he assisted parents and prospective student-athletes in learning about the college athletic recruiting process.

Goss is a 2013 graduate of Bowling Green State University with a degree in sports management.  While at BGSU, he began his coaching career as a high school basketball coach in his hometown of Rossford, Ohio.

KORBYN UKASICK | ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS & VIDEO COORDINATOR

Korbyn Ukasick joined Northwestern ahead of the 2019-20 season as the Assistant Director of Basketball Operations & Video Coordinator.

Her primary responsibility is video operations. She joined Northwestern after previously serving on the staff at Stanford Women's Basketball.

Ukasick played basketball for four years at Colorado College. She averaged 10.8 points and 5.2 rebounds in 90 career games for the Tigers. She was an honorable mention all-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference selection as a junior after scoring 11.3 points and grabbing 4.4 rebounds per game, but was limited to 14 games as a senior due to injury. Ukasick ranks 14th in program history in points (976), 23rd in rebounds (471), seventh in 3-pointers (87) and is tied for 17th in blocks (28).

She represented Colorado College in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference’s Character and Community Program and also volunteered as the summer junior varsity coach at Liberty Common High School from 2013-17.

SARAH WOODRUFF | PROGRAM ASSISTANT

Sarah Woodruff currently works as program assistant for the women’s basketball office, overseeing the day-to-day support and non-coaching operations of the department. She joined the Wildcat team in November of 2017, working closely with head coach Joe McKeown and his coaching staff, as she coordinates team events and travels.

Prior to Northwestern Athletics, Woodruff’s career included four years as an event manager at D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, in Detroit, where she implemented Cadillac-sponsored golf and tennis events. She was hired as an account executive for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League, and was promoted to director of corporate sales.

Sarah graduated in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in public relations from Adrian College where she also played basketball and served as team co-captain.

Sarah and her husband, Scott, reside in Evanston with their two children, Claire and Eric.