Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Athletics

Sarah Lombard originally joined the women's basketball program as an assistant coach in 2008-09. Following a two-year tenure in Troy and then five years elsewhere, she was recruited back to Rensselaer prior to the 2015-16 season.

She assists in all aspects of the program, including student-athlete recruitment and development, game planning, and video analysis. Lombard is also an admissions associate in the enrollment management division.  

The 2019-20 season was the most successful since her return as she helped the Engineers to a pair of post-season tournaments, the Liberty League and ECAC events. They advanced to the semifinals of the conference playoffs, losing in overtime, and played in the semis of the ECAC Tournament. RPI, which had All-Liberty League First Team honoree Sam Krumbhaar and the Defensive Player of the Year in Celia Tomlinson, finished with an 18-11 mark which included a 12-6 league record.

Rensselaer has now increased its overall win totals and conference victories in each of the past five seasons. It has had double-digit triumphs the past four years and its 12 Liberty League wins last season were its most since 2000-01.

In her first stint in Troy, before being named the head coach at Bard College, Lombard helped guide Rensselaer to the Liberty League Tournament Championship as the squad went 17-11 and 10-4 in conference play in 2009-10. Led by Liberty League Player of the Year and the program's all-time leading scorer, Whitney Coleman, the Engineers earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in school history.

In 2008-09, RPI went 18-7 and posted a 10-4 mark in the Liberty League, advancing to its third conference tournament appearance in the past four years. Three student-athletes garnered year-end honors, including Sarah Wetmore, who was named the conference's Rookie of the Year.

A native of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Lombard returned to the Capital Region following a season as an assistant coach at Hamilton College, where she was responsible for post-player development, scouting opponents, and local and national recruiting.

While at Bard, where she was an assistant athletic director as well as the head coach from 2010 to 2014, she led Raptors women's basketball in all aspects, including recruitment, player development, practice planning and scheduling, strength & conditioning, academic monitoring, budgeting and fundraising.

Among the program's accomplishments were the school's first 1,000-point scorer and the program's all-time leading rebounder, a Liberty League Rookie of the Year, an All-League First Team honoree and nine All-Academic selections.

A former standout at SUNY Oswego, Lombard has worked numerous camps and clinics as an instructor, lecturer, clinician and presenter. Outside of basketball, she participated in a variety of events as an administrator while at Bard, including a trip to Haiti to assist in rebuilding the country following an earthquake there.

Lombard's playing career saw her score 1,098 points as a forward for for the Lakers, for whom she holds the record for career field goal percentage. In 105 games, she also had 726 rebounds with 123 assists, 114 blocks and 154 steals.

She led the team in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots during her freshman and sophomore seasons. She was All-SUNYAC three times, All-Tournament twice and All-Region once. Oswego won 20 games twice and played in two NCAA Tournaments, advancing to the second round once.

Lombard graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Health & Promotional Wellness Management.