Entering her first year with the Nanooks, assistant coach Laura Gonsalves brings over 14 years of professional and collegiate basketball experience to the Blue and Gold.

Gonsalves comes to the Nanooks after one season at Western State College of Colorado, where she helped the Mountaineers to a 15-13 overall record, including an impressive 13-6 mark in conference play. Gonsalves also served as an assistant coach at Southern Utah University for two seasons, specializing in the development of post players as well as recruiting and conditioning workouts at the Division I school.

Before embarking on her coaching career, Gonsalves enjoyed a rich, 11-year spell as a player. She was a four-year starter with the University of Washington from 1991-1995, making three NCAA appearances with the Huskies as well as claiming the inaugural WNIT in her senior season. Gonsalves also played seven seasons of professional ball overseas, with stops in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Israel, Switzerland and China, where she became the first American woman to play professionally, claiming MVP honors in two China National Cup tournaments.