Heather Zurich is in her fourth season as an assistant coach atUCSB.
In her first season with the Gauchos, Zurich helped lead theGauchos in their historic run to their 14th Big West Tournamenttitle and NCAA Tournament appearance.
Zurich came to UCSB after coaching for one season at WagnerCollege where she worked primarily on post player development andassist on perimeter instruction.
Prior to Wagner College she played professionally in theNetherlands, following a standout career at Rutgers.
Recruited by Coach Mitchell to Rutgers, Zurich was a part of 102victories and four-straight trips to the NCAA Tournament and wasinstructed by Mitchell and Hall of Fame head coach C. VivianStringer. While in Piscataway, N.J., Zurich helped the ScarletKnights to four Sweet Sixteens, two Elite Eight appearances and oneFinal Four from 2005-2009. As a sophomore in 2006-2007, herRutgers' squad won the program's first BIG EAST TournamentChampionship before advancing to the NCAA Championship Game againstTennessee.
As a senior, Zurich served as a Team Captain and turned inarguably her finest performance in an 80-52 upset of No. 2 seedAuburn in the NCAA's Round of 32. The Garden State native scored 12points, on an efficient 5-of-7 shooting, while limiting SEC Playerof the Year and current WNBA Player DeWanner Bonner to 17 points,on just 5-of-15 shooting.
Her success was not limited to the court as Zurich was named tothe Big East Academic All Star Team as a senior and was a member ofthe NCAA Student Athlete Advisory Committee.
Following graduation, she played a season with Auto-Cad Amazonein Utrecht, The Netherlands. Zurich helped Amazone to a 16-13record and a fourth place finish in the Dames Eredivisie in TheNetherlands with a 15-11 divisional record. She finished second onthe team in scoring (12.2 ppg) and rebounding (9.9 rpg) beforehelping the squad to a 2-3 post-season record and a position in thesemi-finals, where Amazone lost to the ProBuild Lions.
Zurich, a Montvale, NJ native, graduated with a 3.273 GPA fromRutgers.
