Fisher Athletics Welcomes New Women’s Basketball Coach

St. John Fisher University has named Sarah Cartmill as the new head women’s basketball coach. Cartmill takes the reins of the Fisher program after being at Fredonia State since 2018.

“We would like to welcome Sarah to the Fisher family. I am excited to have a coach with her experience and believe Sarah is the kind of person who will serve as a mentor and teacher to our athletes, following our motto of good, smart, and talented,” said Fisher Interim Athletics Director Jen Granger.

In her time with Fredonia State, Cartmill guided the program to two SUNYAC playoff appearances. She has also coached three SUNYAC All-Conference honorees, a SUNYAC Rookie of the Year, and has had 33 student-athletes make the SUNYAC Honor roll. Prior to arriving at Fredonia State, Cartmill had 12 years of collegiate coaching experience – nine as an NCAA Division I assistant coach and three as a head coach at Bard College, an NCAA Division III school.

Her college coaching résumé began to take shape at Ithaca College, where she served one season (2005) as a graduate assistant while earning a master's degree in exercise and sports sciences with a concentration in sports psychology. That was followed by four seasons as an assistant coach at St. Bonaventure University, highlighted by a Women’s National Invitational Tournament appearance in her final two seasons with the Bonnies. She moved on to Binghamton University, her alma mater, in 2010, where she spent four seasons as an assistant coach, including two seasons as recruiting coordinator. Her top season there saw Binghamton post a 19-12 record—11-5 in the America East Conference—in the 2010-2011 season. In August 2014, Cartmill became head women’s basketball coach and assistant athletic director at Bard College in Annandale, N.Y. After leaving Bard, she served for one season (2017-18) as assistant coach at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. Cartmill is a hall-of-famer four times over.

A native of Ithaca, N.Y., she is a member of her high school and New York State Section 4 Halls of Fame, as well as the Binghamton University Hall of Fame, both as an individual and as a member of the 1999-2000 team. A dominant post player, her skill, work ethic, and leadership fueled the program’s instant success at NCAA Division II and then Division I. Binghamton went 94-22 (81 percent) during her four-year career, including an incredible 46-4 at home, and advanced to post-season every year. As a freshman, Cartmill’s Bearcats went 26-4 in the team’s NCAA Division II debut, winning a New England Collegiate Conference title and gaining an NCAA berth. In her sophomore season, BU went 27-2 (16-0 in conference) and won the ECAC Division II tournament, finishing with a No. 17 national ranking and the nation’s fourth-longest winning streak. She averaged 16.2 points and 7.6 rebounds and was named first team all-conference as a sophomore. As a junior, she pushed her scoring average up to 19.1 points (20th in nation) while leading Binghamton to a 22-7 mark and a second straight ECAC championship. Cartmill earned all-region and All-ECAC accolades. Binghamton moved to NCAA Division I prior to her senior year, as a member of the America East conference. She was voted America East Player of the Year and Binghamton University Athlete of the Year. After graduation, she continued playing basketball in Ireland and Denmark while coaching school and club teams in both countries from 2002 to 2005. She played one season for the Sisu Basketball Club in Denmark and led the team to its first Danish National Cup championship since 1999, averaging 20 points and nine rebounds and being named tournament MVP.

At Fisher, Cartmill takes over a program that has won Empire 8 championships and earned NCAA tournament berths in four of the past five years.

“I am incredibly grateful and excited for the opportunity to serve as head women's basketball coach at St. John Fisher University. Fisher is a special place and I cannot wait to begin building relationships and working to continue the strong competitive tradition that the Cardinals are known for,” said Cartmill.