Navy women's basketball head coach Stefanie Pemper discusses various aspects of the program heading into the team's first practice of the 2015-16 season on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

How did the summer go for the players and coaches?
The coaches took vacation time and spent most of July traveling all over the country recruiting. We hosted a good Elite Camp in June and Team Camp in August that the players helped coach and lead. The team was together third block for summer school which was really neat. Peri Curtis was a plebe summer detailer. We had five women doing Protramid, which Sarita Condie and Sara Jones go to do together in San Diego. We had six sophomores on ships all around the world in places like Japan, Australia and Spain. Hannah Fenske and Sarah Reilly were on the same ship so between their cruise, working camps and summer school, they spent much of three months together.

You added Air Force to the schedule after a two-year hiatus. How did that happen?
We were really disappointed to not play them the past two years just in terms of service academy rivalry; everyone gets extra juiced for those games. When Chris Gobrecht got the job last spring I literally called her that night and said, "Let's play!" and she said, "Absolutely," and it seemed like within 48 hours we'd found a date. Chris is a legend in our profession and we have a connection in that we grew up in the same town in California. Her son attended the Air Force Academy and she always rooted for us at Navy and we've become friends.

You've had four assistant coaches the past four years leave Annapolis to take head coaching positions. What does that mean to you?
Well, it means a lot and it will continue to as they lead their programs and I get to cheer from afar. The more people who can give head coaches "unconditional love" the better, and they'll get that from me. When Julie Veilleux came to Navy with me from Bowdoin we both saw how challenging leading a program can be from changing culture to working with administration to recruiting to figuring out how to schedule successfully. Coaching at the Naval Academy-certain sports like basketball especially-exposes you to a multitude of situations and our assistants get to experience everything they want to and learn from.

Last spring you accompanied athletic director Chet Gladchuk and three other coaches on a development trip to Dallas and got to meet Roger Staubach. How fun was that?
I am truly blessed to have a significant list of really cool coaching experiences and that was one. He is so kind and genuine. He was prodded all night to regale stories from his time at Navy and I was amazed how he told each one as if it was the first time, when really it was probably the thousandth. I was inspired by that generosity. I also loved the trip because I got to know my peers Ken Niumatalolo, Pat Owen and Dave Brandt, better. We all had to speak for five minutes in front of a couple hundred people including Roger and Chet. Kenny was funny, he was acting all anxious about speaking then he lead off and absolutely knocked it out of the park. Total sandbagger; none of us wanted to follow him.

Halsey Fieldhouse is currently undergoing another extensive renovation that will benefit women's and men's basketball. What exactly is changing?
Everything, it's a total overhaul. Both programs are getting an entirely new locker room, lounge and film room. We're getting a new training room and coaches' locker room, too. Now I can save money at home by using the academy's hot water. Seriously, it's so exciting. The space is going to be bigger than we have now and totally first-class. When you combine that with the new practice courts that opened in Halsey last year we have an incredible Division-I facility. Our players and coaches will continue to make sure we earn it.

The team is playing in two iconic basketball arenas this season in Madison Square Garden and Phog Allen Fieldhouse at the University of Kansas. Do the players understand the history of those venues?
Probably not, but we'll make sure to educate them. I know Haley Unger grew up watching Knicks basketball as her parents worked in Manhattan and are sports people. I know Dani Poblarb knows about The Phog from growing up 30 minutes away in Topeka. We are also playing in The Palestra in Philadelphia which has quite a history in the game as well.

We are grateful to Army for making The Garden game happen and it befits their women's program and their talented senior guard Kelsey Minato. She has to be one of the best-if not the best-to ever play in the Patriot League. Statistically, Navy and Army women have been two of the top three winningest programs in the league of late, taking four championships in the past five years. Not sure we needed more of a showcase but we'll take it!

Last season Navy had 11 different starting lineups after having only six the previous two seasons combined. How was the team able to win 17 games and finish tied for 4th in the Patriot League with only two returning letter winners?
With tough defense, timely offensive contributions from multiple players and selfless, smart play. We were fortunate to have the consistency that Chloe Stapleton, Hannah Fenske and Haley Unger, brought to the court. Chloe shot the ball well again and knew our opponents really well, Haley was great defensively and Hannah had good organization and poise in the backcourt. Their stability allowed women like Taylor Dunham, Sarita Condie, Marina Muenster and Ashanti Kennedy, to make winning plays. Justice Swett became a stalwart late in the year and Sarah Reilly was sneaky effective as our best shooter and a great rebounder.

I can't say enough about Chloe's leadership. We don't play well when we are up-tight and emotionally internal, and Chloe personified focused and calm most of her career. The team honored her on Senior Night with a affectionate skit about them being the kids and her being the storyteller and she truly did affect an environment where mistakes might be made but drama wasn't necessary.

Your teams your first seven years have set a program record for consecutive winning seasons, and Navy has the second-best winning percentage in the Patriot League during that time. That must make you proud?
We've had a lot of fun! I think the players, the assistant coaches and I, all fulfill roles that compliment each other. There are growing pains for sure, some lines drawn in the sand, but our coaches are fully committed to the women in this program, to this great Academy and to the Navy and Marine Corps. Together we've experienced some amazing moments on the basketball court and helped strengthen the bond that NWB alums have. Our coaches consistently prod the women to set the bar high, and in years where we've won championships there's been less prodding, more ownership and more maturity. In society today our players have so many potential distractions to being a team-first, all-in successful Division-One athlete. When it happens it's incredibly rewarding to witness, and it inspires me and fuels me as a coach.