ATLANTA --- UNI women’s basketball alum Brittni Donaldson has been hired as an assistant coach with the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, as announced by the team on Wednesday. Donaldson, a four-year Panther veteran known for her three-point shooting abilities, becomes the first female coach in the 76-year history of the franchise.

The Sioux City, Iowa native was a two-year starter at guard for the Panthers and played in four Women's National Invitational (WNIT) tournaments for UNI. Donaldson played in 114 games in a Panther uniform and still holds the program’s single-game record for three-pointers made with eight made shots against Drake her junior season. Donaldson was also named honorable mention MVC Scholar-Athlete during the 2013-14 season.

Having taken an unorthodox path to coaching in the NBA, Donaldson is just one of 15 women to have served as a full-time assistant coach in the over 70-year history of the NBA. After knee injuries prevented Donaldson from participating in a professional career as a player, the skills obtained as a student at UNI combined with her passion for sports set the table for a successful career.

Following her graduation from UNI in 2015 with a degree in statistics and actuarial science, Donaldson worked for CBE Companies in Cedar Falls analyzing internal data. After a stint as an analyst with STATS LLC in Chicago, Donaldson moved to Canada and teamed up with another former Panther in Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, who was recently named head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.