Towson University Athletics

The 2025-26 season will be Harper's fourth season at the helm of the Towson women's basketball team.

Laura Harper, who helped the University of Maryland win a national championship as a player, was named Towson University's Women's Basketball head coach on April 20, 2022.

In her second season in charge of the Tigers, Harper guided Towson to the CAA semifinals for the second straight year. The Tigers went 11-7 in CAA play, finishing with double-digit conference wins in back-to-back seasons under Harper. She is the first coach in program history to have double-digit conference wins in her first two seasons. Two Tigers earned All-CAA Honors, with Kylie Kornegay-Lucas being named CAA Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year for the first time in program history. Kornegay-Lucas was named to the All-CAA First Team, while Patricia Anumgba earned All-CAA Second Team honors.

In her first season at the helm for Towson, Harper led the Tigers to the third-most wins and had the most wins in a first season by a head coach in program history with a 21-12 record. The Tigers won a share of the CAA Regular Season Title for the first time in program history. Harper secured the number one seed for the CAA Tournament as the Black & Gold advanced to the CAA Title Game for the second time in program history. The Tigers made their second consecutive WNIT and third appearance in the tournament.

Harper comes to Towson after a two-year stint as head coach at Coppin State University. In 2021-22, Harper guided the Eagles to one of the largest turnarounds in the nation and earned Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Coach of the Year honors in her second season at the helm. The Eagles won a school-record six games against Division I non-conference opponents, had a six-game win streak midway through the year and had their first winning campaign (15-13) since the 2013-14 season. In the four seasons before her arrival, Coppin went a combined 22-95. Jaia Alexander was named the 2021-22 MEAC Player of the Year while Aliyah Lawson also earned First-Team All-MEAC honors.

Prior to taking over at Coppin, Harper worked as an assistant coach at five NCAA Division I institutions and was head coach at one of the top collegiate preparatory schools in Florida.

Harper won 18 games as the head coach at Montverde Academy in 2019-20 with a team where five seniors earned NCAA Division I scholarships.
 
From 2017-19, Harper assisted the women's basketball team at the University of Florida for two seasons. Under her tutelage, Paulina Hersler and Haley Lorenzen had career years as seniors.
 
Harper spent the 2016-17 season at George Washington University under Women's Basketball Hall of Fame player Jennifer Rizzotti. That season, the Colonials won an Atlantic 10 regular season championship and advanced to the WNIT. Post players Lexi Martins and Caira Washington received all-conference honors.
 
From 2014-16, she worked as an assistant coach at High Point University. The Panthers won 20 games during the 2014-15 season and advanced to the Big South championship game. Stacia Robertson was named the Big South Player of the Year and an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American before going on to play overseas. 

Harper spent the 2013-14 season as an assistant at Loyola University Maryland. She was responsible for post player development, scouting and served as an academic liaison for the Greyhounds.

Immediately before going to Loyola, Harper spent the summer of 2013 coaching at American University after finishing her five-year professional career.

As a sophomore at Maryland, Harper led the Terrapins to the 2006 National Championship. She received the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player award after scoring a then career-best 24 points in the semifinal victory over North Carolina. Two days later, Harper recorded 16 points in the title win against Duke. While in College Park, Harper scored 1,407 points, grabbed 873 rebounds, and broke the school record with 198 blocks. In her senior year, she was an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American and Third Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) selection after averaging 14.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. She was a Naismith Award finalist during her junior season. On February 5, 2009, Harper's No. 15 jersey was raised to the rafters at Xfinity Center.

Following her collegiate career, Harper was the 10^th overall selection of the Sacramento Monarchs in the 2008 WNBA Draft. In two seasons, she averaged 5.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in 67 appearances. In her rookie campaign, she ranked in the top 10 among first-year players in field goal percentage (5^th- .474), rebounds (6^th- 4.0) and blocks (6^th-0.6) plus was 13^th in points (5.5). 
 
Harper spent the next three seasons overseas- playing in Italy, Turkey and Russia before beginning her coaching career.

In addition to her collegiate success, Harper was a member of the U21 national team, where she helped the United States to a gold medal at the 2007 FIBA U21 World Championship in Russia. She was a starter for the 2004 USA U18 team which won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championship. During that tournament she averaged 12.8 points, while shooting 63 percent from the floor.

Originally from Elkins Park, Pa., Harper earned a communications degree from Maryland. Her father, Haviland Harper, played basketball at George Washington from 1973-76.