MOUNT VERNON – Cornell head women's basketball coach
Brent Brase has named two new assistants to his 2023-24 staff in
Rose Shimaoka and Bruce Williams.
Shimaoka, a 2020 Cornell graduate, returns to the Hilltop after a successful four-year career in which she played 99 games in coach Brase's program. She was an integral part of three Midwest Conference Tournament appearances, two MWC regular-season titles, one MWC Tournament championship and one trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament from 2016-20.
Shimaoka is among three players in program history to record 650 points, 225 rebounds, 200 assists and 150 steals in a career. The Honolulu, Hawaii native was a senior team captain on the 2019-20 squad and awarded team Most Valuable Player as a junior.
Shimaoka played a key role on the 2017-18 team that finished 20-6, claimed MWC regular-season and tournament titles and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. As a freshman, the Rams went 20-5 overall and captured the MWC regular-season crown with a 17-1 mark.
Shimaoka started 46 games her final two seasons with the Rams. She ranks No. 6 on Cornell's career chart for 3-point goals made (120). Shimaoka ranks No. 8 in assists (201) and steals (151).
Williams, of Wild Rose, Wis., graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in communications. He served as recruiting coordinator for the UW-Green Bay men's basketball team from 1996-98.
Williams led an impressive turnaround as head varsity girls basketball coach at Wild Rose High School from 2005-15. The program won three conference championships during Williams' tenure, highlighted by back-to-back undefeated conference seasons and an impressive 42-game conference winning streak.
Williams was assistant varsity boys coach at Wild Rose from 2015-18.
From 2017-23, Williams founded and directed Welcomed, a non-profit organization serving vulnerable children of foster and adoptive families.
Williams and his wife Stephanie have been married 25 years and have seven children. They have been foster parents for the past nine years and have cared for 22 additional children.
