UA Fort Smith Athletics

Lauren Unger begins her third season as head women’s cross country coach and assistant women’s basketball coach.

Prior to joining the UAFS staff, Unger was a graduate assistant women’s basketball coach at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin for one season. During that time, the Falcons won the regular-season Heartland Conference Championship, received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II National Tournament and earned the school’s and conference’s first win in the national tournament with a first-round win against Abilene Christian.

Unger is a graduate of UTPB, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology. She also played basketball four seasons for the Falcons. A shooting guard, Unger set the school and conference record for most made 3-pointers in a career and, as a junior, helped lead the Falcons to the conference tournament championship and their first berth in the national tournament.

A native of San Jose, Calif., Unger is a 2008 graduate of Midland (Texas) High School, where she lettered four seasons in basketball.