Brooke Atkinson has completed her second season with LMU in 2025-26, playing a key role in one of the most historic campaigns in program history. She helped guide the Lions to the WCC Regular Season Championship - their first outright conference title since 2003-04 - while LMU posted a 15-3 conference record, the best mark in program history, and finished with 21 overall wins to tie for the second-most in a single season. The Lions also earned a postseason berth in the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament - just the fourth postseason appearance in program history - falling in a tightly contested opening-round matchup at Stanford Cardinal women's basketball. Along the way, LMU produced a nine-game winning streak, the program’s longest since the 2003-04 championship season, and secured a signature victory over Gonzaga Bulldogs women's basketball, snapping a 35-game losing streak in the series. The Lions also saw a resurgence in individual recognition, earning their first All-WCC First Team selections since 2018-19 and placing two players on the First Team for the first time since 2003-04, all while exceeding preseason expectations after being picked ninth in the conference and building on strong late-season momentum from the previous year despite early-season injuries.
Atkinson joined LMU after spending one season as an assistant coach at Cal Poly. Prior to that, she spent two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Wyoming, where she helped guide the Cowgirls to back-to-back Women’s NIT appearances. In her first season (2022-23), Wyoming finished second in the Mountain West, and in 2023-24, the Cowgirls placed third with an 11-7 conference record while earning postseason wins over UTSA and South Dakota.
Before her tenure at Wyoming, Atkinson served as the head coach at New Mexico State for five seasons, where she led the Aggies to sustained success. She was named WAC Coach of the Year in 2017-18 after guiding the program to its fourth consecutive regular-season title, and the following season, NMSU captured both the regular-season and tournament championships to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Prior to her time as a head coach, Atkinson was an assistant at Colorado State for three seasons, helping the Rams secure three consecutive Mountain West championships. She also spent three seasons at South Dakota, where she helped lead the Coyotes to three postseason appearances, including their first NCAA Tournament berth in 2014. Atkinson began her coaching career at New Mexico State, serving eight seasons as an assistant coach following her playing career.
A former student-athlete, Atkinson began her collegiate career at Western Nebraska Community College before transferring to Wichita State in 2000. She graduated from Wichita State in 2003 with a degree in elementary education and later earned a master’s degree in educational curriculum from New Mexico State in 2008.
