Darien Lantz is in her fifth season as the assistant women’s basketball coach in 2022-23.
In 2018-19, Lantz helped lead the Tomcats to the semifinals of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament. She helped mentor PAC Player of the Year Jess Vormelker, as well as Freshman of Year Destiny Johnson.
Vormelker was one of the most decorated players in program history. She was the first player in school history to be named to a D3hoops.com All-America Team in 2019. She was also a two-time D3hoops.com Great Lakes All-Region Team honoree, including Second Team accolades in 2019.
Vormelker was a two-time finalist for the Jostens Trophy (2019, 2018). A national award sponsored by Jostens and the Rotary Club of Salem, Va., to honor the most outstanding men’s and women’s NCAA Division III basketball players of the year, the Jostens Trophy takes into account three vital parts: basketball ability, academic prowess and community service.
A four-time All-PAC selection, including First Team honors as a senior, at the time of her graduation, Vormelker ranked among the best in program history in multiple statistical categories, including: career three-pointers (1st, 248), blocks (2nd, 125), points (3rd, 1,681), field goals (4th, 567), made free throws (4th, 299), assists (5th, 237) and rebounds (5th, 790).
As a freshman, Johnson led the team with 304 rebounds in 2018-19 and finished second on the team with 329 points.
Led by Vormelker and Johnson, the 2018-19 Tomcats, who became known as the “Cinderella Tomcats”, were the first team in PAC history to reach the semifinals of the conference championship tournament as an eighth seed. Led by freshman guard Rachel Breckenridge, who drained six three-pointers and netted a game-best 22 points, the Tomcats defeated the Bethany Bison 68-55 in opening round of the tournament. Thiel went on to beat the Chatham Cougars 75-70 in the tournament quarterfinals, led by Johnson who notched a double-double with 15 rebounds and 14 points. The magic ended when the Tomcats fell to the Saint Vincent Bearcats 76-69 in the tournament semifinals. Senior guard Alivia Sidley paced the Tomcats with a game-high 25 points while Vormelker and Johnson both tallied double-doubles.
Lantz is a 2017 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in sport and recreation management.
Lantz played three seasons with the Pitt Bradford women’s basketball team. As a senior, she started all 27 contests and averaged more than 30 minutes per game. Lantz averaged seven points and nearly four assists per game in her final year with the Panthers.
Lantz’s Panthers teams qualified for the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Tournament all three years of her career. She was an AMCC Scholar-Athlete and was the recipient of an AMCC Sportsmanship Award.
Lantz coached junior varsity and junior high school basketball in the Towanda Area School District before arriving at Thiel.
