University of California, Santa Barbara

Chelsea Carlisle joined UC Santa Barbara as an assistant coach prior to the 2024-25 season, joining the Gauchos after a 12-year stint as an assistant coach and, since 2016-17, Associate Head Coach at UC San Diego. 

In her first season at Santa Barbara, Carlisle helped the Gauchos to an 18-13 record, with marquee victories over UC Irvine and Hawai'i in The Thunderdome. At the end of the season, four Santa Barbara student-athletes earned All-Big West Honors.

A native of Agoura Hills, Carlisle is deemed one of the best players in UC San Diego history. A four-year starter from 2008-12, Carlisle led the Tritons to three CCAA titles and three NCAA Championship appearances during her time with the program. She wrapped up her career with averages of 16.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.2 steals in 118 games at UC San Diego. The former Oaks Christian High School product led UCSD to a banner season in 2011-12 as the Tritons won their first 26 games and finished with a school-record 30 victories overall. UC San Diego established the best mark in the history of the CCAA at 21-1, earned the program's first-ever No. 1 national ranking and claimed the top seed in the NCAA Division II West Regional.
 
In Carlisle's first season as an assistant, in 2012-13, the Tritons posted a 22-11 overall record and placed second in the CCAA with a 17-5 mark. UCSD won its first-ever CCAA Tournament title and qualified for NCAA postseason play for the eighth time since joining the NCAA Division II ranks in 2000. After spending four seasons as an assistant coach, she was promoted to associate head coach in the 2016-17 season. She went on to help lead UC San Diego to a 23-7 overall and 17-3 CCAA record. After taking its fifth and second-consecutive league title, UC San Diego advanced to the CCAA Tournament championship game and was defeated by Cal State East Bay. The Tritons traveled to Anchorage, Alaska and fell to Simon Fraser in the first round of the NCAA West Regional.
 
After earning WBCA Thirty Under 30 honors in 2017, Carlisle helped guide the Tritons to a 28-5 overall record with a 21-1 mark in CCAA play during the 2017-18 season. UC San Diego won its third-consecutive CCAA regular-season championship en route to an appearance in the NCAA West Region Semifinals. The Tritons had 11 and 12-game winning streaks during the season, earning victories in 23 out of 24 contests at one point.
 
Carlisle had an instrumental role in one of the best seasons ever at UC San Diego in 2018-19, leading the Tritons to a program-best 30-0 start to the season en route to capturing CCAA tournament and regular-season titles. UC San Diego finished the season 30-1, reaching the NCAA West Region Semifinals and finishing the year ranked No. 6 in the final WBCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll.