The Rigby File

Personal Information
Birthday	April 16
Hometown	Franklinton, La.
Education	Southeastern Louisiana, 1990 (Bachelor's) Southeastern Louisiana, 1998 (Master's) Nova Southeastern, 2017 (Doctorate)
Husband	Ed
Children	Ramsey, Randon

Coaching History
2012-Pres.	Troy - Head Coach
2005-12	Pensacola State - Head Coach
2001-05	Holmes CC - Head Coach
2000-01	Tabor College - Head Coach
1995-00	Loranger HS - Head Coach
1992-95	NW Rankin HS - Head Coach
1990-92	Ponchatoula HS - Head Coach

As if 2023-24 couldn't be topped with a Fab 4 appearance, head coach Chanda Rigby enters her 14^th season in 2025-26, following a runner-up finish in the WNIT Championship game.

From 2019-2025, the Troy Women's Basketball team tallied the most wins of any Sun Belt men's or women's basketball team.

Since taking over the program in 2012, Rigby has made Troy a perennial championship and NCAA Tournament contender. Rigby's impressive resume includes nine 20+ win seasons, three Sun Belt Tournament Championships, two Sun Belt Regular Season Titles, three trips to the NCAA Tournament, nine postseason appearances (includes first-ever postseason victory in program history with a WNIT run to the Fab 4 in 2023-24), 24 all-conference selections, five Sun Belt Post Season Award winners, a Sun Belt Player of the Year honoree and a Sun Belt Coach of the Year honor. Two seasons ago saw her inducted into the FCSSA Class of 2024 Hall of Fame.

The story of 2024-25 seemed like the year before as Rigby’s Trojans started the season slow at 1-4 but quickly turned things around by winning the 41^st Great Alaska Shootout over North Dakota State to become the first Sun Belt team in the tournament’s history – Troy joined the likes of Tennessee, South Carolina, Ohio State and Stanford. Rigby continued to add feats throughout the season, like coaching the first-ever triple-double in program history (Shaulana Wagner – Memphis), defeating Arkansas in the Cherokee Tournament for the program’s fourth-ever win over a Power-4 opponent, recording her 150^th SBC win over Georgia State to become the third coach ever in the league’s history and winning her 250^th career game at Troy over Texas State to culminate in her 10^th straight season as a top-4 team in the conference.

Despite falling short to the eventual champions, Arkansas State, in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Tournament, the Trojans received their bid back to the WNIT. Under Rigby, the Trojans hosted back-to-back wins over Chattanooga and North Texas before punching their ticket to the WNIT title game at Buffalo with road victories at North Dakota State and Illinois State – the program’s first national championship game appearance. Rigby’s championship run fell four points short, 88-84, but she helped All-Sun Belt First Team, back-to-back SBC Player of the Week, WNIT All-Tournament Team, Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament team member Zay Dyer, to the all-time single-season rebounding record at Troy (395). She also shattered the team single-season records for points (3,045), field goals made (1,142), rebounds (1,864) and blocks (180) as the Trojans led the nation in rebounding (49.1) for the eighth straight season.

Rigby flipped the script after an 0-6 start for 2023-24, rallying the team to finish 22-12, 15-3 SBC for the No. 2 seed in the SBC Tournament. Despite an early exit in the SBC, the Trojans accepted a WNIT bid, hosting three games and making a historic run to the WNIT Fab 4 with the first-ever postseason victory in program history against FIU. Her 2023-24 team led the nation in rebounds for the seventh straight season with 47.88 per game, beating out LSU. On the defensive end, Troy ranked eighth nationally at 30.8 and second offensively at 17.1. She also coached the leading team for All-Sun Belt members, with Tai'Sheka Porchia on the first team, Ja'Mia Hollings on the second and Makayia Hallmon on the third. Hollings also earned WNIT All-Tournament team with 22.8 points, 12 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.5 blocks on the historic run. The 2023-24 season also saw the most field goals made in D-I program history at 1,060 – Hollings led the team as she became the 26^th player in Troy women's basketball history to eclipse 1,000 points. Rigby hit two win milestones in the 2023-24 season, earning her 450^th collegiate career win over Bowling Green and rising to third for most SBC victories at 146 – sits 47 wins away from second (Brian Boyer – 193).

During 2022-2023, the Trojans entered the Sun Belt Tournament as the No. 4 seed – ninth season the team finished in the top four. Hungry for a shot at the semifinals, the tournament ended early for the Trojans with an unfortunate official error during the Old Dominion game in the quarterfinals.

Troy scored the longest 75-plus point streak in the country with their 21-straight game streak during the 2022-2023 season. She also coached the only SBC team with four 100-plus games, improving to 34 career 100-point games – record currently sits at 51-4.

The team also ranked nationally in the top four for rebounds, offensive rebounds, scoring and free throws. In the league, the Trojans led in scoring, rebounding, steals and offensive rebounds.

The offense powerhouse Rigby led made it a legendary season for the Trojans. Five players averaged double figures for a conference-best 84.2 points per game on the fifth-best field goal percentage of 40.4 percent. Fighting relentlessly during the season, Troy also gained the third-most blocked shots at 3.4 and was the only team in the SBC to average double-figure steals a game at 11.6 – ranked eighth in the nation.

Troy ended the season with multiple league-high honors. Three players earned All-Sun Belt nods. Makayia Hallmon earned second-team honors, while Ja'Mia Hollings and Tai'Sheka Porchia were named to the third team. Hollings and Porchia also earned Sun Belt Player of the Week and NCAA Starting Five of the Week.

In 2022, Rigby and the Trojans returned from the heartbreaking loss at Texas A&M in the 2021 NCAA Tournament looking for vengeance. Troy capped off nonconference action by sweeping the Mississippi State MTE. The Trojans downed host Mississippi State, the eventual SWAC champions Jackson State and South Carolina State to start conference play with momentum.

That momentum carried Rigby's Trojans to three short-handed wins to open conference play. Due to COVID-19 protocols, Troy had to battle through three games with as few as eight players to start conference play a perfect 3-0.

The Troy Women's Basketball squad claimed the Sun Belt Regular Season Championship after convincingly downing Appalachian State 89-56 in the final weekend of the regular season.

Felmas Koranga and Amber Leggett earned All-Sun Belt honors after Koranga was selected to the first team and Leggett to the third team. The Nakuru, Kenya native picked up her second straight First Team All-Sun Belt honor after leading the league in rebounding. The junior also ranked 10th nationally with 354 boards on the season. Leggett earned her first nod from the Sun Belt Conference, being tabbed a Third Team All-Sun Belt selection in her first season with the Trojans. The Navarre, Fla., native ranked second on the team and 15th in the league, averaging 11.8 points per game. Leggett also backed up Koranga on the glass, ranking second on the team and 10th in the league with 7.1 boards per game.

The Trojans punched their second straight trip to the Sun Belt Tournament Championship. Despite losing UT Arlington, Troy earned an automatic bid to the WNIT, where the Trojans played host to Alabama.

The squad finished the season ranked first nationally in defensive rebounds, free throws made, offensive rebounds and rebounds per game. The team also ranked second in rebounds and sixth in scoring.

The 2020-21 season was another one for the record books for Rigby. She led her program to its third NCAA Tournament appearance, third Sun Belt Tournament Championship and sixth 20+ win season. She was honored by the league's head coaches and media members for the first time as she was named the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year. The individual awards didn't stop with Rigby. She guided Alexus Dye to the Sun Belt Player of the Year award, the first player of the year honoree in program history, and Felmas Koranga to Newcomer of the Year honors. Under the leadership of Rigby, Dye was named a First Team All-Sun Belt performer, Koranga and Jasmine Robinson were second-team honorees and Tiyah Johnson was a third-team member. Troy's four All-Sun Belt performers were the most in a single season in program history and the most in the Sun Belt since 1998.

Statistically, the 2020-21 season was among the best in Rigby's career. Troy ranked third in the NCAA in scoring offense at 86.0 ppg (the highest total of her career), first in rebounds (52.1) and defensive rebounds per game (32.8), first in both free throws made (477) and attempted (653), second in total rebounds (1,458) and offensive rebounds per game (19.3), fifth in total steals (291) and 12th in total assists (471). Troy made national headlines in the NCAA Tournament against No. 2 seed Texas A&M when the Trojans almost earned the first win for a 15 seed in NCAA Tournament history, erasing a 16-point deficit to lead the Aggies late in the fourth quarter before narrowly falling by just four points. Troy's 80 points scored was the third-most points scored by a 15 seed in tournament history.

Troy put together its most successful season in program history during the 2019-20 campaign. Rigby led Troy to a program-record 25 victories and the program's first-ever Sun Belt Regular Season Championship after posting a 16-2 conference record. Although the season was cut short due to COVID-19, the Trojans earned the No. 1 seed in the SBC Tournament. Rigby guided three players to all-conference honors, the most honorees in a single season in program history. In December, Troy earned its highest RPI rating in program history (36) before ending the season with an RPI of 44, the highest in the SBC. Under Rigby's leadership, the Trojans led the NCAA in total rebounds (1,595), rebounding margin (+15.4), rebounds per game (55.0), offensive rebounds per game (22.2) and defensive boards per game (32.8).

In 2018-19, the Trojans earned their first-ever invitation to the WNIT. Rigby guided Sky'Lynn Holmes to the SBC Defensive Player of the Year, the first such award as SBC members. Holmes was also named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team. Once again, Rigby's squad was one of the best offensive teams in the country, averaging 82.3 points per game average and a +10.3 rebound margin, finishing fifth-best in the NCAA in both stats. The Trojans finished first nationally in offensive rebounds and first in the country in rebounds per game at 50.48.

In 2017-18, Rigby's Trojans finished 18-13 overall after the departure of seven seniors from the previous season. The Trojans led the Sun Belt in scoring (81.9) and the NCAA in rebounding (49.5), joining Baylor as the only school in the nation to lead its conference in both categories in each of the last six seasons. Sophomores Amber Rivers and Kayla Robinson earned Second Team All-Sun Belt Conference honors, while junior Sky'Lynn Holmes was named Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year.

Troy won its second consecutive Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship in 2016-17, earning a second straight bid to the NCAA Tournament. Forward Caitlyn Ramirez was named All-Sun Belt Conference First Team and SBC Tournament MVP. For the fifth consecutive season, the Trojans led the league in scoring and finished top 10 in the nation with 82.5 points per game. Troy was second in the NCAA with 50.15 rebounds per game, including an 86-rebound performance against Arkansas State in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament quarterfinals, the second-most in NCAA history.

In 2015-16, the Trojans finished 20-13, won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history. Ashley Beverly Kelley was named First Team All-Sun Belt Conference and SBC Tournament MVP.

Caitlyn Ramirez took home third-team All-Sun Belt honors as well. Rigby's squad led the conference in scoring for the fourth consecutive season.

Troy's 2014-15 team won 20 games for just the fourth time in program history and made the second postseason appearance through the WBI Tournament appearance – first postseason tournament since 1997. Ashley Beverly Kelley and Ronita Garrett were both named to the All-Sun Belt First Team, giving Troy two first-team selections for the first time in over a decade.

In 2013-14, Rigby coached her first All-Sun Belt First Team performer when Joanna Harden became the first All-Sun Belt First Team member under Rigby when she scored 25.1 points per game. Harden finished seventh in the NCAA in scoring and was a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award given to the nation's top point guard. During the year, Troy averaged 80.4 points per game and became just the second Sun Belt team since 2000 to average over 80.0 points.

In Rigby's first season at the helm in 2012-13, Troy won seven games, a five-win improvement from the year before and tying the total number of wins Troy won over the previous two seasons combined. It was also Troy's first season playing home games in the newly constructed Trojan Arena.

Before taking over the Trojan program in 2012-13, Rigby spent 12 years at the junior college level. She spent seven seasons at Pensacola State, coaching three WBCA All-Americans, one McDonald's All-American and four NJCAA All-Americans. Rigby guided the Pirates to a combined 64-6 record over the last two seasons with two trips to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Final Four and earned two third-place finishes. Before Pensacola State, Rigby led Holmes Community College to four straight winning seasons and spent one season at NAIA Tabor College, where she transformed a last-place team into one of the top teams in the conference. Rigby began her head coaching career at Northwest Rankin High School in Mississippi in 1992 before returning to her home state of Louisiana to coach at Loranger High School from 1996-2000.

Rigby graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University with a bachelor's degree in English education in 1990 and a master's degree in secondary education in 1998. She earned her doctorate in higher education leadership from Nova Southeastern University in July 2017.

She is married to Ed Rigby, a high school football head coach and Athletic Director. The couple has two sons, Ramsey and Randon.

Year	School	Record	Conf. Record	Conf. Finish	Postseason
2024-25	Troy	24-14	13-5	3rd	WNIT (Runner-Up)
2023-24	Troy	22-12	15-3	2nd	WNIT (Fab 4)
2022-23	Troy	17-13	12-6	4th
2021-22	Troy	24-9	13-2	1st (Regular Season Champions / SBC Runner-up)	WNIT
2020-21	Troy	22-6	15-2	1st (East - Regular Season Title / SBC Tournament Champions)	NCAA
2019-20	Troy	25-4	16-2	1st (Regular Season Champions)	Covid
2018-19	Troy	22-9	13-5	3rd	WNIT
2017-18	Troy	18-13	12-6	4th
2016-17	Troy	22-11	12-6	3rd (SBC Tournament Champions)	NCAA
2015-16	Troy	20-13	12-8	4th (SBC Tournament Champions)	NCAA
2014-15	Troy	20-11	15-5	3rd	WBI
2013-14	Troy	12-18	8-10	6th
2012-13	Troy	7-24	3-17	10th
Troy Totals		255-157 (.619)	159-72 (.688)	3x SBC Tournament Champions / 3x SBC Regular Season Champions
2011-12	Pensacola State	29-5
2010-11	Pensacola State	29-0
2009-10	Pensacola State	24-6
2008-09	Pensacola State	20-9
2007-08	Pensacola State	16-14
2006-07	Pensacola State	15-16
2005-06	Pensacola State	9-13
Pensacola State Totals		142-63 (.693)
Holmes CC Totals		N/A	N/A
Tabor College Totals		N/A	N/A
Career Totals		483-255 (.655)