The winningest coach of a single sport in Union College history, Mary Ellen Burt completed her 26th season at the helm of the Union women's basketball program in 2020-21, continuing her tradition of developing outstanding young student-athletes in the classroom, in the community, and on the basketball court. She also is in her ninth season as the coach of the Union women's golf team.
Coach Burt has made success a consistent piece of the women’s basketball program. She recorded her 300th career victory with a season-opening win at Hartwick on November 15, 2016 and, with a win at Bard on January 15, 2019, became the all-time leader in wins of any Union coach (men's or women's) in any sport. Her career record stands at 344-285 (.547), including only three losing seasons in the last two decades and an average of 14 wins per year.
In the 2013-14 season, Burt coached senior Amy Loya, who was named one of the 10 national recipients of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Good Works Program. Loya was honored on the court during a National Semifinal Game at the Final Four in Nashville.
Since 1999-2000, Union has competed in three ECAC Tournaments and qualified for the Liberty League Tournament 14 times in addition to a pair of Liberty League regular-season titles and one conference tournament championship.
The 2008-09 team earned the Liberty League regular-season title with a 12-2 league mark. Union was 19-7 overall that season and finished the year 13-1 at home, including 13 straight victories at the Viniar Athletic Center. The 2004-05 team reached the ECAC Upstate title game and the Liberty League semifinals, finishing with a 19-9 record.
The best two-year stretch in program history came in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons, when the Dutchwomen combined to post a 46-9 record. Union started the 2002-03 campaign with a program-record 15 consecutive victories on the way to a 22-5 record, which at that point was five more wins than any previous Union squad had ever won. Burt was named the WBCA District II Coach of the Year in addition to earning UCAA Coaching Staff of the Year honors with assistant coach Jamie Seward.
The mark was eclipsed the very next year, when the team swept the UCAA regular-season and tournament titles on the way to a 24-4 record. That season saw the Dutchwomen earn the first national ranking in school history, reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever and also pick up its first NCAA Tournament victory, a 78-47 win over Mount St. Mary that marked the team's school-record 14th home victory of the year. Burt and Seward earned their second straight UCAA Coaching Staff of the Year honor as well.
Coach Burt picked up her 200th career coaching victory on February 21, 2009, in a 48-44 victory against Hamilton College. Her 100th career coaching victory came on December 9, 2003, as her team defeated Russell Sage, 79-35.
A graduate of R.L. Thomas High School in Webster, New York, Coach Burt attended the University of Southern California on a full athletic scholarship. She lettered in basketball all four seasons before graduating in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. She was the first assistant at the University of Rochester from 1984 through 1989 before taking over as the first assistant at Southwest Texas State University from 1989 to 1991. Coach Burt rejoined the Rochester staff as part of the admissions office in 1991 before taking over as the Yellowjackets first assistant coach in 1992.
Coach Burt, who earned her Masters in Business Administration from St. John Fisher in 1989, was the Executive Director of the New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletic Association from 1993 - 1999. She served on the Executive Council of the Board of Directors for the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. She has also served on the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Advisory Committee, the Division III Kodak All-American Committee, and the ECAC Basketball Committee, and the NCAA Women's Basketball Rules Committee.
