Bill Westphal
Head Coach (11th Year)
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Bill Westphal sets out on his eleven season as the PLNU women's basketball head coach. Already one of the most successful coaches in university history, Westphal has guided the women hoopsters into one of the top programs in the NAIA.

Over his ten-year tenure, Westphal's PLNU squads have posted a 230-102 overall record and qualified for the playoffs each season, reaching the conference tournament semifinals or finals each time. In addition, the Sea Lions have appeared in the last seven national tournaments, highlighted by 2004-05's run to the "Final Four." He has been selected as the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) Coach of the Year on two occasions, 2001 and 2008.

Last season, in 2008-09, Westphal led the Sea Lions to a 27-7 overall record, the seventh consecutive year of 20 or more wins. PLNU went 17-3 in conference, finishing second in the Golden State Athletic Conference. He then took his team to participate at the NAIA National Championship Tournament for the seventh time in a row. At nationals the Sea Lions won two games before being knocked out in a close contest by eventual champions, Union (Tenn.).

Prior to taking over the PLNU women's basketball team, Westphal spent 25 years of coaching men at the high school, college and professional level. His accomplishments at the college level are lengthy. He was head coach at Grand Canyon University (1988-90), where he had a two-year mark of 55-15 while advancing to the NAIA National Championship Tournament both seasons. His Grand Canyon teams were ranked No. 1 in the NAIA polls for a number of weeks during his two year stint. From ’82-85, he was the head coach at Western Washington University, and he had two separate tenures as the head coach at Occidental College (1973-80 and 1986-88). He has a career record as a men’s head coach at the collegiate level of 240-179. Over 27 seasons of coaching Westphal's overall record is 470-271.

After a three year stint as head coach at Brophy College Prep in Phoenix, Arizona, Westphal came to Point Loma in 1997 as men's associate head coach under his former college roommate and then men's coach, John Block.

Westphal directed the PLNU women’s basketball program for the first time during the 1999-00 season. In his inaugural season as coach, he led the team into the GSAC playoffs where they advanced to the semifinal game. Westphal was named the GSAC Coach of the Year that season and was honored with that same award after the 2007-08 campaign.

Following a successful playing career at Aviation High School in Redondo Beach, California, Westphal went onto the University of Southern California on a basketball scholarship where he played from 1962-66. After his collegiate career, Westphal toured the country for two years as a member of the original Athletes in Action basketball team.

Westphal is a full time faculty member at PLNU while teaching in the Department of Kinesiology. He and his wife, Lynne, have three grown daughters, Kristie, Kelly and Kendra, and seven grandchildren.