UNLV Women's Basketball Camp
Coaching Staff
Caitlin Collier
Assistant Coach
Caitlin Collier is in her second year as an assistant coach for the Lady Rebels after being hired in May of 2008.
Collier came to UNLV after serving 11 years as the first and only head women's basketball coach at Menlo College in Atherton, Calif. The two-time Cal Pac Conference Coach of the Year led Menlo to an average of 20 wins over the past four seasons, including the 2006-07 season when the Oaks finished at 25-3 (16-0 in conference play). Collier had a career record of 172-96 at the school after starting the program from scratch in 1997. She led the Oaks to three NAIA tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 finish in 2006. The team also won three conference tournament championships, two regular-season championships, and in 2006-07 it finished the year ranked No. 7 in the NAIA national top-25, the highest in program history. The Oaks were also ranked No. 2 nationally in team defense during the 2006-07 season.
Collier also had been Menlo's Director of Athletics since July of 2003, the first woman to hold the position in the school's 75-year history, and saw the Oaks win the Cal Pac Conference All Sports Trophy in 2006-07 (the school would win in the 2007-08 season as well). She was selected as president of the NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches Association in October 2007.
Prior to Menlo, Collier spent one season at Dominican University (Calif.) as assistant coach and assistant athletic director during the 1996-97 season. She played one season for UC Davis (1989-90), and received her bachelor of arts degree in psychology from the school in 1993. Collier also earned a master of arts degree in sports management from the University of San Francisco in 1997, and completed a fellowship at Oxford University in the spring of 2002.
Kari Duperron
Assistant Coach
Kari Duperron is in her second year as an assistant coach on the UNLV staff after being hired in May of 2008.
Duperron had previous ties to Olivier, having spent a total of four seasons on the UCLA staff beginning in the 2003-04 season as the director of basketball operations when Olivier was the Bruins' head coach. She also spent a portion of the 2006-07 season as an interim assistant coach for Olivier. At UCLA, she oversaw the administrative side of the program, which included work on recruiting, marketing, and also directed the summer and winter basketball camps.
Duperron spent the 2007-08 season as the sophomore boys' basketball coach for North Torrance High School in Torrance, Calif., and led the team to a second-place league finish, while also serving as assistant coach for the varsity team that won its first league championship since 1972.
Duperron began her collegiate career at Cal Poly as a freshman walk-on and would finish as a three-year starting point guard. She was a two-time team captain and named the 2003 Big West Conference "Hustle Player of the Year." Duperron earned her bachelor of science degree in marketing management from Cal Poly in June of 2003 and also received a master of arts degree in sport management from Long Beach State in February of 2006.
Nikki Blue
Assistant Coach
Nikki Blue is in her second year on the UNLV coaching staff as an assistant coach after being hired in June of 2008.
Blue played under Olivier for four seasons at UCLA (2003-06) and was a two-time Associated Press and Kodak/WBCA honorable mention All-American. One of just five players in conference history to be named All-Pac-10 all four years (all first team selections), Blue finished her career fifth on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,797 points and was second in assists (602) and third in steals (325), which is also the second-highest in Pac-10 history.
Blue was a second-round draft choice (19th overall) of the Washington Mystics in the 2006 WNBA draft and was in the top 10 among rookies during the 2006 season in both assists and free throw percentage. In her four years with the team, she has played in a total of 96 games and made 23 starts, including 22 during the 2008 season. This past year she helped the Mystics finish fourth in the Eastern Division to clinch a playoff spot, their second in her four years on the squad. The team would fall to the eventual Eastern champion Indiana Fever. Blue has also played overseas during two seasons, having played in Turkey in 2007, and in Greece in 2008.
Blue graduated from UCLA in 2006 with a bachelor of arts degree in history.
Elizabeth Linkous
Director of Basketball Operations
Elizabeth Linkous is in her fourth season as the director of basketball operations for the Lady Rebels. Her responsibilities include team travel logistics, practice scheduling, assisting in marketing and promotions, coordinating community outreach activities and special events, publishing the Red Alert, and assisting in summer camp administration.
Linkous came to UNLV after spending two seasons as the basketball operations coordinator and equipment manager for the WNBA's Indiana Fever (2005-06). Prior to working with the Fever, Linkous was the sports information intern at the Indiana High School Athletic Association (2004) and was an assistant women's basketball coach at Earlham College in Richmond, Ind. (2002-03). She also served as the women's basketball operations intern at the University of Notre Dame (2001-02).
Linkous played four years for Division III Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Ind., where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in mass communications in May of 2002. In December of 2004, Linkous completed her master of science degree in sports administration and management from Indiana University, Bloomington.