Vanessa Abel competed her sixth season as an assistant coach and her first campaign as associate head coach at her alma mater during the 2024-25 season.
An integral part of four 20-win Duquesne WNIT teams as a player, she returned to the Bluff as an assistant coach in July of 2019 before being promoted to associate head coach in June of 2024.
The Scottdale, Pennsylvania native, whose previous stop was at Western Michigan in 2018-19, has brought proven recruiting ability combined with valuable experience in player development to Dan Burt’s staff.Â
In just her fourth season, Abel was promoted to offensive coordinator for the Dukes, and her impact was immediate. Under her leadership, Duquesne’s offense consistently ranked among the top five in the Atlantic 10 Conference and placed in the top three for three-pointers made per game. During the 2024–25 season, the Dukes soared to second in NCAA Division I in three-point attempts and ranked fifth nationally in three-pointers made per game.Â
Under Abel’s tutelage, the Dukes had a record-breaking season, connecting on a program-best 341 three-pointers and scoring a single-season high of 2,446 points. Duquesne averaged 71.9 points per game and made 863 field goals—both ranking second in program history. Despite their up-tempo, high-volume style of play, the Dukes remained efficient, finishing with a .410 field goal percentage, the ninth-highest mark in a single season for the program.
In 2023-24, the Dukes featured six players surpassing the 1,000-point plateau, a rare feature that only four other schools in the country accomplished. Continuing to have an impact on the game, Abel was selected to the 2024 inaugural Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Next Generation Institute. She was just one of three A-10 coaches selected. The institute is a new high-level education program for experienced assistant coaches who aspire to become head coaches at the NCAA Division I, II, and III levels. Now in its second year, the Next Generation Institute curriculum focuses on the CEO attributes needed to lead a program and be a problem-solver in today's ever-changing landscape of higher education and the enterprise of intercollegiate athletics.
In her one season at Western Michigan, Abel helped the Broncos land a recruiting class ranked second in the Mid-American Conference by ASGR Basketball.
Prior to her move to Kalamazoo, Mich., Abel helped Saint Francis U to a 41-25 record (29-7 in Northeast Conference play) as an assistant in 2016-17 & 2017-18. While in Loretto, Pa., she was part of a staff that guided the 2018 Red Flash (24-10) to a share of the NEC regular-season title, conference tournament championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament.
On the player development side, Abel played a key role in the growth of standout guard Megan McConnell, the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year and a finalist for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year. McConnell, who became Duquesne’s all-time assist leader, earned a training camp invite with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury following the 2024–25 season. Prior to her time at Duquesne, Abel made a significant impact at Saint Francis, where she worked with NEC Player of the Year Jessica Kovatch. In 2018, Kovatch set an NCAA single-season record with 141 made three-pointers. That same season, Abel also developed NEC Freshman of the Year Caitlyn Kroll, who ranked second in the conference in free-throw percentage and was the team’s second-leading scorer..
Abel finished her Duquesne career (2009-13) ranked among the school’s top 10 in assists, steals and 3-point percentage. A third team All-Atlantic 10 pick as a junior for the 24-9 Dukes, Abel played for teams that went a combined 88-41 and won nine or more A-10 games three times in her four seasons on the Bluff.
She went on to play professionally in Germany, Sweden and Romania prior to moving into coaching.
A member of both the 2007 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Fabulous Five and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Terrific 10, Abel led the WPIAL in scoring as both an junior and senior at Southmoreland High School.
Abel completed her undergraduate degree in elementary education in 2012 and added a master’s in sports leadership, also from Duquesne, in 2013.
