Chelsea Stoltenberg Resigns After 11 Seasons as BSU Women's Basketball Coach

Chelsea Stoltenberg resigned as Bemidji State University's women's basketball head coach after 11 seasons, the university announced publicly in late March 2026, ending a tenure that began when she was hired as the program's 10th head coach on June 5, 2015.

Stoltenberg posted an overall record of 85-197 at BSU, going 56-175 against NSIC opponents across her 11 seasons. She will not leave the athletic department entirely: Stoltenberg is staying involved with Bemidji State athletics as a senior women's administrator. According to the BSU Athletics release, she also serves as Student-Athlete Advisory Committee advisor.

Stoltenberg's best season came in the COVID-19-shortened 2020-21 campaign, when she was awarded NSIC North Division Coach of the Year after leading the Beavers to a 10-6 record overall and an 8-4 mark in conference play. BSU advanced to the NSIC Tournament Quarterfinals, taking a 71-70 win over Concordia University-St. Paul on Feb. 26 in Sioux Falls, S.D., and made the NSIC Tournament Semifinals for the first time since 2004. Stoltenberg guided BSU to its first winning season, overall and in conference play, for the first time since 1995-96. Even in a shortened season, she led BSU to its most conference victories since the 2007-08 season, including a seven-game winning streak for its longest such streak since 1987-88, a run that began with an 82-76 overtime win over Minnesota.

In the 2018-19 season, Stoltenberg took BSU to the second round of the NSIC Tournament for the first time since 2003-04, upsetting top-seeded Concordia-St. Paul by a score of 73-70 on the road.

Before arriving in Bemidji, Stoltenberg built her coaching foundation at the University of Sioux Falls. Following a year as graduate assistant under head coach Travis Traphagen, she was promoted to assistant coach beginning with the 2010-11 season and served in that capacity until she was elevated to associate head coach following the 2013-14 campaign. Stoltenberg played women's basketball for Augustana, and as a native of Watertown, South Dakota, she earned North Central Conference Freshman of the Year honors in 2006 before graduating in 2009.

Bemidji State will have a new women's basketball coach to start the 2026-27 season. BSU has already started its national search for Stoltenberg's replacement, though the university has not announced a timeline for the hire or named an interim coach.