Head coach Austin Meyer will enter his ninth season at the helm of the Bearcat women’s basketball program in 2026–27. Meyer ranks No. 3 in program history in coaching victories with 115 and has guided Northwest Missouri State to five consecutive .500 or better seasons, the program’s longest stretch in 35 years.
In the 2025-26 season the Bearcats finished fifth in the MIAA, highlighted by sophomore Sadie Maas earning MIAA Defensive Player of the Year honors and freshman Bailey Birmingham being named All-MIAA Honorable Mention. Northwest posted a 13–3 home record which was the best since 2011 and has recorded 18-plus wins in two of the past three seasons after reaching that mark just once in the previous 15 years.
Defensively, the Bearcats have ranked among the MIAA’s elite, finishing in the top three in scoring defense each of the past three seasons. In 2024–25, Northwest also led the MIAA in fewest turnovers and ranked among the top teams nationally in taking care of the basketball.
The Bearcats have landed 14 all-MIAA performers during the Meyer tenure, including the 2021 MIAA Freshman of the Year Molly Hartnett and 2026 MIAA Defensive Player of the Year Sadie Maas.
In 2023-2024, head coach Austin Meyer led the Northwest Missouri State women's basketball program to its first NCAA tournament in 13 years. The Bearcats finished with a 23-8 record and tied for second place in the MIAA. The 16 MIAA victories were the second most in program history.
Meyer was introduced as the ninth head women's basketball coach in program history March 19, 2018.
Associate Head Coach
Meyer served as a full time member of the men's basketball staff at Northwest from 2008-18. Starting in 2015, he served as the program's associate head coach.
With Meyer on the bench as a full-time coach with the men’s basketball program, Northwest has won 215 games (21.5 wins per season average), captured six MIAA regular season titles, four MIAA Tournament titles and one NCAA Division II National Championship. Thirty-three Bearcats earned MIAA honors in the past decade and three were named the conference’s Player of the Year. In addition, seven student-athletes were named to the All-Defensive Team, three earned MIAA Freshman of the Year accolades and two Bearcats earned NABC All-America honors.
Meyer served as the men’s program’s lead recruiter. His other duties included organizing and running the Center Court Cat Club, organizing and presenting opponent scouting reports, coordinating official visits, coordinating team travel, community engagements, summer camps, social media, skill development and more.
Student-Athlete and Graduate Assistant
Meyer was a four-year letter winner for the Bearcat men’s basketball team from 2002-06. He scored 1,294 career points and held the then-Northwest career record with 215 made three-pointers. He graduated from Northwest with his bachelor’s degree in corporate recreation in 2006 and earned his master’s in physical education in 2008. He served as a graduate assistant on Steve Tappmeyer’s staff for two seasons before being promoted to assistant coach prior to the 2008-09 season.
Personal
Meyer, a native of Blue Springs, Missouri, and his wife Kelsi (Franklin) reside in Maryville. The couple has two children - Mary Claire and Franklin.
