Shannon Litton has been an assistant for the Bellarmine University women's basketball team under Coach Chancellor Dugan since 2012, but their relationship extends far beyond their days together with the Knights.
Litton has been by Dugan’s side since their days at Southern Indiana, which then continued at Florida Atlantic University. The duo had success in both stops, leading USI to a 30-2 season in 1996-97 that included 29 straight wins and a national runner-up finish in the NCAA II Tournament before guiding Florida Atlantic to the 2005-06 ASUN Championship title.
Bellarmine earned a berth in the ASUN Tournament in 2023-24 behind a sweep of Lipscomb and Austin Peay in the final week of the regular season. The Knights also had a notable 64-52 road win over eventual two-seed Stetson during the year. Guard Hayley Harrison was a third-team All-ASUN selection.
In 2022-23, Gracie Merkle became the first Bellarmine athlete in any sport to be named ASUN Freshman of the Year. The 6-foot-6 center was a unanimous ASUN All-Freshman Team selection and was recognized as second-team ASUN All-Conference.
Bellarmine's first season in Division I and the ASUN came in 2020-21 and was highlighted by a four-game winning streak in ASUN play and All-Conference accolades for Tasia Jeffries.
Over eight years in Division II before Bellarmine transitioned to D1, Litton helped shepherd the Knights to a record of 143-85 overall and 87-59 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. She assisted in guiding the Knights to their first-ever GLVC Tournament title in 2016, along with appearing in the conference tourney in all eight seasons. Sarah Galvin was an All-American in the 2016-17 campaign, and the Knights amassed 15 All-GLVC awards.
Bellarmine went 18-11 in 2019-20, its final season in DII. The Knights defeated archrival Southern Indiana 66-59 in the GLVC Tournament quarterfinals, marking the fourth time in five years the team captured at least one conference tourney victory.
In 2018-19, Bellarmine advanced to the GLVC Tournament finals for the second time in Litton's tenure, notably defeating No. 15 Lewis 78-77 in the semifinals. The Knights earned a berth in the tournament after a late-season surge in which they won five of six games during a stretch just prior to the postseason.
Despite a slew of injuries and an underclassmen-heavy rotation, Litton helped lead Bellarmine to a 16-12 overall record and 11-7 GLVC mark in 2017-18, including an 84-70 victory over No. 6 Drury that marked the Panthers' lone league loss.Â
In 2016-17, Litton helped guide Bellarmine to a berth in the NCAA II Tournament for the second season in a row. At 22-8, the Knights completed their first back-to-back 20-win season in a dozen years. The Knights tied for second in the GLVC East and earned a first-round bye in the GLVC Tournament. Bellarmine was nationally ranked for the vast majority of the season.
In 2015-16, Litton helped return Bellarmine to the prominence not witnessed in the program since the 1990s, as the Knights tied the program record for best win percentage in a season (85.7) after finishing 24-4. Bellarmine's 15-3 mark in the GLVC tied its best output among its 18-game conference seasons. Litton then helped guide Bellarmine to an unprecedented GLVC Tournament championship after an upset over No. 10 Drury, 80-77, in the semifinals and an 89-78 victory over No. 22 Quincy in the finals. That set the stage for a Selection Sunday in which it was announced that Bellarmine earned its first NCAA II Tournament berth since 2008. The Knights entered the Big Dance ranked 20th in the nation.
Litton helped the new coaching staff make an immediate impact on Bellarmine in its first season. Inheriting a program coming off two losing seasons, Litton assisted in the turnaround of the Knights in 2012-13 and helped lead the team to a 19-11 record that included a 10-1 start.
Originally from Maysville, Kentucky, Litton graduated from Mason County High School after helping lead the girls' basketball team to three Kentucky state tournament berths. She played collegiately at Morehead State, graduating in 1993 with a degree in physical education and health.
After graduating from MSU, she was the head JV and assistant varsity coach at Monroe County and Fleming County before joining Dugan at USI. She was inducted into the KHSAA 10th Region Hall of Fame and the USI Hall of Fame.
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