Ed Leyden enters his 16th season as Head Coach of Suffolk University Women's Basketball. From 1980 until Coach Ed Leyden’s 1994 arrival on Beacon Hill, the women’s program at Suffolk University had an overall record of 85 wins and 201 losses.

Since 1994, Suffolk women’s basketball has averaged a remarkable 18 wins a year.

Among the team’s lengthy list of accomplishments are:

GNAC Coach of the Year -- Ed Leyden -- 1997, 1998, 2000, 2008
Most Wins in a Season -- 20 in 2007-08
GNAC Regular Season Title -- 2000
Top 25 Academic Team -- 2001, 2003 from WBCA
International competition -- 2003, first Suffolk team to play outside the United States, competing in the Sunshine Tournament in the Bahamas
NCAA Rankings -- 2003, 2005 Top 20 in Team Defense

Ed Leyden coached high school for 11 years. At Revere High School, his teams were 84-36, a .700 winning percentage. His teams won the Greater Boston League Title his last three seasons, going 44-1 in that stretch. Leyden was selected Coach of the Year twice by the Massachusetts Basketball Coaches Association. He was also named Boston Globe Coach of the Year. Ten of his former high school players were named captains of their college teams.

Leyden resides in North Reading with his wife Norma and their three children, Michael, Michelle and Daniel.

Leyden is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts. He received a Master’s Degree and Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies at Boston State College. He is Mathematics teacher at Revere High School. He won the Student Government Leadership Award in spring of 2007.

Suffolk Women’s Basketball Since 1994

Year Record
1994-95 5-17
1995-96 13-11
1996-97 12-13
1997-98 13-13
1998-99 18-8
1999-00 19-7
2000-01 18-8
2001-02 16-8
2002-03 11-15
2003-04 19-7
2004-05 17-10
2005-06 15-11
2006-07 18-10
2007-08 20-9
2008-09 14-12

Barry Kipnes coached North Reading High from 1967-2001. He was MBCA Coach of the Year and Cape Ann League Coach of the Year four times. His teams won five league championships and qualified for the state tournament 14 times. In 2005, the North Reading High School basketball court was named the Kipnes Court in honor of his career there. Kipnes and his wife, are residents of North Andover, MA.

Heather Babin joins the Rams for her first season as assistant coach for the 2009-2010 season.  A 2009 graduate of Roger Williams University, Babin earned RWU female athlete of the week honors six times in her three-year career as a center for the Hawks.  During her final two seasons, Babin lead the Hawks in blocks, rebounds, minutes, and field goal %. Babin graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Marketing from RWU, earning a spot on The Commonwealth Coast Conference's All-Academic team in each of her three seasons.  She spent her freshman season playing for Carnegie Mellon University, before transferring to Roger Williams in 2006.  Before college, Babin graduated from Salem High School (MA), a four-year varsity starter in basketball, and two-time NEC conference champion. She was elected to the Salem High School Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005.

Joining the Rams for her first season is assistant coach, Ellen Naughton of Reading, MA. A 2009 graduate of Colby-Sawyer College, Naughton was a two-year captain and a four-year starting guard for the Chargers. During her career with the Chargers, Naughton experienced two NCAA Division III tournament appearances as well as two ECAC Division III tournament appearances. Naughton is ranked seventh in steals for individual record holders at Colby-Sawyer College. Naughton holds a BS in Athletic Training. Prior to college, Naughton graduated from Reading Memorial High School where she was a four-year varsity guard. She was also a Boston Globe All-Scholastic in track and field for Reading