Entering her eighth season as the head women's basketball coach, Cindy Hovet leads the Falcons through arguably the toughest conference in the country. In her tenure as head coach the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference has seen three NCAA champions and two second place finishers.

During the 2006-2007 season Hovet, who is in her eighth season with the Falcons, moved into 13th place all-time in the WIAC for career wins, and is currently fourth in the WIAC among active coaches in wins. During her seven seasons leading the Falcons, Hovet has coached 14 women to All-WIAC honors including Traci Reimann and Mel Preiner last season. Hovet not only demands maximum effort on the court, but in the classroom as well.

"The primary focus when coming to college is to get a degree. What we stress is that no matter what you are involved with at the time, be excellent at it. Whether it is in the classroom or on the basketball floor. Being a well-balanced person is what competing and being a student athlete at the Div. III level is all about."

The 2007-08 Falcons will look vastly different from previous seasons as the Falcons graduated five seniors. Youth will be in abundance for Hovet as the Falcons make their way through a difficult 26 game schedule, which opens on the road Nov. 16 and 17 at St. Mary's and Winona respectively. The Falcons open WIAC play on Dec. 1 at UW-Oshkosh.

"With our top seven scorers from last year graduated or not returning, it will be a whole new challenge from the start. Our returning players will have a lot on their plate; they have to get their own experience playing in the WIAC plus fill a huge leadership role for us. They will have to teach our younger players what being a player in the WIAC is all about, and more importantly, teach them what being a River Falls basketball player is all about. They will have to teach them that we are a detail-oriented team that prides itself on doing the little things right. We are young, and we are very athletic. I'm excited to see our team come together during the season as players develop and chemistry solidifies. We are going to be a team that is going to push the ball up and down the floor, and we have a chance to be a lot better than people think we will be."

The 2006-07 Falcons finished 16-11 overall (9-7 WIAC) and finished fourth in the playoffs, losing in the semi-finals to champion and NCAA qualifier UW-Stout.

Hovet was the UWRF head tennis coach and assistant basketball coach for five years before taking over the basketball program in 2000-01. Her playing career was also in the WIAC. As a student-athlete at UW-Stout she was a two-time All-WIAC first team selection in 1993 and 1994. Her senior season she was named the 1994 WIAC Player of the Year and earned All-American honors. She was named to the second All-WIAC team in 1992. She helped the Blue Devils to a 76-27 record and berths in both the NCAA Div. III and NAIA National Tournaments for four seasons. She was inducted into the UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame in November 2005. She is the only person who has been named a WIAC Coach of the Year (2001) and WIAC Player of the Year (1994).

Hovet earned her psychology undergraduate degree and coaching minor from UW-Stout. She completed here master's degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in sport psychology and sociology at the University of Minnesota. She currently teaches at UWRF in the health & human performance department along with her coaching duties.

Cindy Hovet