Walker fills out coaching hires for Women’s Basketball

NEWBERRY - Newberry College women’s basketball coach Johnette Walker announced that Brittany Bigott and Ki’Ari Cain have joined her as part of the women’s basketball staff.

“I am excited to add these two outstanding people to our staff because both are leaders who will help our student-athletes achieve all their academic, athletic and personal goals,” said Walker. “They are very versatile in their experience and skill set,” bringing a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience playing and coaching at the top level of collegiate basketball.”

Coach Bigott comes to Wolf Nation after serving as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at UNC Asheville last season. She previously served as an assistant coach at Sam Houston State (2020-23) and McNeese State (2018-2020), was a graduate assistant coach at Wayne State (Neb.) and served on the coaching staff at BIG Basketball Academy in Houston from 2013-17.

At Sam Houston State she coached two All-WAC First Team selections, two All-WAC Second Team selections and one All-WAC Defensive Team honoree.

Bigott, a native of Katy, Texas, is a 2017 Summa Cum Laude graduate of the University of St. Thomas (Texas) and received graduate degrees from both Wayne State and Sam Houston State.

Bigott appeared in 87 career games and was a NAIA Scholar-Athlete all four years at St. Thomas. She led the team in three-point field goal percentage as both a freshman and sophomore and was a four-time Academic All-Conference pick as well as UST’s Scholar Athlete of the Year her freshman and junior seasons.

She is a graduate Seven Lakes High School in Katy, helping her team advance to the regional finals her senior year.

Coach Cain comes to Newberry after completing her playing career this season at the University of Memphis where she played in 30 games, starting 25 of them, leading the team in assists with 74 and was fifth on the team in scoring averaging 6.2 points per game.

She previously played four seasons at Gardner Webb where she was a three-year starter and is the school’s all-time career assist leader with 426. She helped lead the Bulldogs to the 2023 NCAA Tournament while posting 29-5 overall record including a perfect 18-0 conference record. She finished her collegiate career with over 1,000 points and 500 assists.

While at Gardner-Webb, Cain was a team captain, a member of the team leadership council and served as a campus liaison for students of color.

Cain is a graduate of Sumter High School where she was an all-conference performer.