Sarah Cartmill completed her second season as Fredonia State women’s basketball coach in 2019-20. She has been the head coach of the Blue Devils the summer of 2018, when she hired after a national search. "I am excited," Director of Athletics Jerry Fisk said at the time of Cartmill’s appointment, "to have Sarah join our staff and lead our women's basketball program. It was evident from her time on campus, and throughout the entire search process, that she has a passion for basketball and working with student-athletes. Sarah's demonstrated commitment to excellence, both on and off the court, will further enhance the student-athlete experience and positively impact the culture of Fredonia women's basketball."
Prior to arriving at Fredonia State, Cartmill had 12 years of collegiate coaching experience – nine as a NCAA Division I assistant coach and three as a head coach at Bard College, an NCAA Division III school. In her first season at Fredonia State, she guided her team to a SUNYAC playoff appearance. The Blue Devils entered the 2018-19 tournament as the No. 6 seed and went on the road to defeat Oneonta, 59-51, before falling to Geneseo in the semifinal round.
Her college coaching resume began to take shape at Ithaca College, where she served one season (2005) as a graduate assistant while earning a Master’s Degree in Exercise and Sports Sciences with concentration in sports psychology. That was followed by four seasons as an assistant coach at St. Bonaventure, highlighted to a Women’s National Invitational Tournament appearance in her final two seasons with the Bonnies. She moved on to Binghamton University, her alma mater, in 2010, where she spent four seasons as an assistant coach, including two seasons as recruiting coordinator. Her top season there saw Binghamton post a 19-12 record -- 11-5 in the America East Conference -- in 2010-11. In August 2014, Cartmill became head women's basketball coach and assistant athletic director at Bard College in Annandale, N.Y. After leaving Bard, she served for one season (2017-18) as assistant coach at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y.
Cartmill is a hall-of-famer four times over. A native of Ithaca, N.Y. she is a member of her high school and the New York State Section 4 Hall of Fames, as well as the Binghamton University Hall of Fame, both as an individual and as a member of the 1999-2000 team. A dominant post player, her skill, work ethic, and leadership fueled the program’s instant success at NCAA Division 2 and then Division 1. Binghamton went 94-22 (81 percent) during her four-year career, including an incredible 46-4 at home, and advanced to post-season every year. As a freshman, Cartmill’s Bearcats went 26-4 in the team’s NCAA Division 2 debut, winning a New England Collegiate Conference title and gaining an NCAA berth. In her sophomore season, BU went 27-2 (16-0 in conference) and won the ECAC Division 2 tournament and finished with a No. 17 national ranking and the nation’s fourth-longest winning streak. She averaged 16.2 points and 7.6 rebounds and was named first team all-conference as a sophomore. As a junior, she pushed her scoring average up to 19.1 points (20th in nation) while leading Binghamton to a 22-7 mark and a second straight ECAC championship. Cartmill earned all-region and All-ECAC accolades.
Binghamton moved to NCAA Division 1 prior to her senior year, as a member of the America East conference. She averaged 18.4 points and seven rebounds, including 11 games of 20-or-more points – on a 19-win team. She was voted America East Player of the Year and Binghamton University Athlete of the Year. After graduation, she continued playing basketball in Ireland and Denmark while coaching school and club teams in both countries from 2002 to 2005. As a player, she averaged more than 20 points over the course of two seasons with Scruffy's St. Paul's of the Irish Superleague, which reached the league championship game. She played one season for the Sisu Basketball Club in Denmark and led the team to its first Danish National Cup championship since 1999, averaging 20 points and nine rebounds and being named tournament MVP.
