Coaching Staff

Women - Basketball - Head Coach

Email: Patrick Cunningham

The beginning of the decade not only meant the start of Patrick Cunningham’s 2nd decade at the helm of the Lady Matadors’ Women’s Basketball program, it also brought the return of the same incredible success that Cunningham’s teams enjoyed during the first part of Y2K. Granted, March of 2011 brought the Lady Matadors to their 3rd consecutive berth in the Region I Finals, but this time, Cunningham assembled a team that would set new standards for success before they were done with the second 30-win season in Lady Matadors’ history, 3rd ACCAC Regular Season title, the team’s first-ever victory in Coolidge against perennial powerhouse Central Arizona, and a final national ranking of 7th. Sustained success is nothing new to Cunningham, considering ever since he came to Yuma from Prescott in 1999 to build the AWC Women’s Basketball program from the ground up, the Matadors and postseason success have been anything but strangers. In Cunningham’s 12-year tenure, the Lady Matadors have now won the ACCAC Regular Season title three times, reached the playoffs eight times, the Region I Finals six times, and reached the NJCAA Tournament once in 2002, and during that time have never suffered through a losing season. The ‘02 season was the program’s high-water mark as they won the regular season title, Region I Championship, and posted their first-ever win in their inaugural appearance at the NJCAA Tournament in Salina, Kansas. The Lady Matadors’ program is also nationally recognized and respected, since they’ve risen as high as #2 in the NJCAA National Poll at one point. They also finished with a national ranking of 8th, 17th, and 11th over a three-year stretch from 2002 to 2004. During their 12 years of existence, the Matadors have produced 11 NJCAA All-American players, 5 Kodak WBCA All-Americans, 2 NJCAA All-Academic All-Americans and have sent 16 student-athletes to Division I programs. On the academic side, half of Cunningham’s last four teams have reached the status of NJCAA All-Academic Teams for a cumulative grade point average of more than 3.0. Cunningham got his start in coaching in the ACCAC as well as a longtime assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s basketball programs at Yavapai College in Prescott.
Cunningham is currently a Professor for the Business and Liberal Arts Division (BLAD) at AWC in addition to his coaching duties. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration and Economics from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, and a Master's degree in Business Administration from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. He’s also been a bank manager and financial administrator in the professional world. The light of Cunningham’s life is his son, Logan Escobar, who was born March 6, 2003, one day after a NJCAA Region I playoff victory.

 Regina Schlichter

Assistant - Women's Basketball

E-Mail:  Regina Schlichter

She’ll have to get used to not wearing green, and Matador fans will double-take when they see her wearing cardinal and gold, but yes, Regina Schlichter is now a Matador after spending six years trying to beat AWC. Schlichter and her new boss, Patrick Cunningham, certainly have some common traits between their resumes’, since like Cunningham (who made the same trek in 1999), Schlichter has only coached at two places: AWC and their archrivals from Prescott, Yavapai College. Schlichter was Brad Clifford’s main assistant coach with the Roughriders’ Women’s Basketball program for the past six years, and has also been his Associate Head Coach since 2007. Schlichter was a part of every aspect of the Roughriders’ progress and success, since she focused on recruiting, strength and conditioning, helping student-athletes with their studies, and on the court, working with the Lady ‘Riders’ post players. That’s not by accident, since she came to Yavapai after a stellar four-year college playing career at NCAA Division I St. Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania. She missed only three games for the Red Flash over her four seasons, and helped lead SFU to win 71% of their games during that time. Schlichter was team co-captain as a senior. What’s astounding about Schlichter during the past decade is her teams’ success rates, since as a college player and an assistant coach, she’s never experienced a season where her team didn’t go a postseason tournament. Schlichter earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management while at SFU.

Women - Basketball - Assistant Coach

Email: Stephanie Jauregui

Whether on the bench, behind the bench or in the AWC Fitness Center, Stephanie Jáuregui has been alongside of Patrick Cunningham and the Matador Women’s Basketball team for 12 of the program’s 13 years, which makes her the 2nd-longest tenured assistant coach in the entire Matador Athletic program. Jáuregui signed on with the Lady Matadors in the program’s second year, and she continues to be the team’s Strength & Conditioning Coordinator. Before coming to Yuma, Jáuregui was making history by leading the Bagdad High School varsity girls’ basketball team to the Arizona State Playoffs for the first time in school history. The Lady Sultans made two postseason appearances during her four-year tenure at the helm of the program. Jáuregui-or ‘Tep’ as she’s commonly known-was also the head coach for Bagdad’s boys’ basketball team for two years during that time. A standout during her playing days on the court for the Yavapai Roughriders’ women’s basketball program, ‘Tep’ moved on to the University of Arizona, where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree. It was during that 2-year stint at YC that Jáuregui’s work ethic and knowledge of the game first caught the eye of Cunningham, who was a Roughriders’ assistant at the time, and led him to offer her a job on his staff when he came to AWC.