Brooke Freeburg heads into her fourth season as the head coach of Wheelock's women's basketball in 2011-12. Freeburg previously coached at a number of basketball camps in the Northeast, including at Amherst College and Brown University, and has also coached at University of Notre Dame associate director of women's basketball operations Angie Potthoff's summer camp in Erie, Pa.

Last winter, Freeburg led the Wildcats to the cusp of their first postseason berth since 2001-02 while pushing Wheelock to its highest league victories total since 1999-2000. The Wildcats knocked off Elms College, 68-60, on Feb. 17 for their first series win since 2000, and among their losses was a slim 48-41 setback against Mitchell College, the eventual No. 2 seed in the NECC Tournament.

A native of Waterford, Pa., Freeburg played four years of Division I basketball at BIG EAST member Providence College, graduating in 2004 after serving two seasons as a captain. She netted 413 points in 78 career games, averaging career bests of 9.2 points and 3.4 rebounds while starting all 27 games in 2003-04. She started 73 of a possible 82 contests over her final three seasons after being limited by an injury her freshman year.

Freeburg was also a standout javelin thrower for the Providence track & field team, qualifying for the outdoor NCAA Championship each of her four years, including drawing All-America honors in 2001. She twice won the javelin at the BIG EAST Championship, as her 2001 showing made her the first Friar - man or woman - to ever win a field event at the conference meet. Freeburg also won the javelin competition in 2001 at the prestigious Penn Relays and qualified for BIG EAST Academic All-Star honors in 2003 and 2004.

In June 2011, Freeburg was inducted into the Erie Metropolitan Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. Already a 2005 inductee into the Pennsylvania High School Track & Field Hall of Fame, the All-America basketball player during her time at Fort LeBoeuf High School remains the only player in Erie County history to score more than 2,000 points. She also earned three All-America track & field honors, including winning the 1999 national title in the javelin.

Melissa Bissonnette joins the Wheelock College Women's Basketball staff for the 2011-12 season. 

Bissonnette's experience with coaching fundamental basketball is extensive, especially at the youth level.

Bissonnette worked at the Hampshire Regional YMCA as the Youth Basketball League Director (YBL) for the past two years. This included directing a ten team youth basketball league for ages 7-17 and managing a twelve person coaching staff and multiple volunteering staff. She also coached individual teams during the season as well.  She helped young players strengthen their basketball skills, while heightening their enthusiasm for the game. The YBL pre-season created a fun program, while emphasizing valuable basketball skills, sportsmanship, team play, and participation.

The Boston native also directed and coached all-year-round individual basketball classes at the Hampshire Regional YMCA.  She created the HRYMCA's  first ever all girls basketball class for ages 7-12, so that young women could learn important fundamentals like ball handling, passing drills, and proper shooting technique in a safe judgment free area. The class grew to over 20 participants in just its second session and has since grown remarkably. 

Bissonnette was also the Athletic Director for summer basketball camps at Thunder Cats Sports. This included instructing children 5-16 on valuable basketball knowledge and developing and harnessing their skills.

In addition to her duties as an Assistant Basketball Coach at Wheelock, Bissonnette also serves as an intern in the Department of Athletics.  Bissonnette works with game management, preparing event contracts, coordinating the department's work study students, monitoring academic progress of the Wildcats student-athletes as well as maintaining Wheelock Athletics recruitment database.

She is currently working towards her Masters Degree in Sports Management through the United States Sports Academy.

Bissonnette graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a Bachelors Degree in Communications and also obtained an Associates Degree in Communications from the New England Institute of Art.

She has also obtained valuable experience working for the WEEI Red Sox Radio Network.

Heather Babin enters her first season with Wheelock Women's Basketball, but is no stranger to coaching on the college level in Boston.

Babin spent last season with the Suffolk University women's basketball program as an assistant and helped guide the Rams to a 18-11 record, including an appearance in the Greater Northeast Atlantic Conference Championship game. 

A 2009 graduate of Roger Williams University, Babin earned RWU Female Athlete of the Week honors six times in her three-year career as a center for the Hawks.  During her final two campaigns, Babin led Roger Williams in blocks, rebounds, minutes, and field goal percentage.  She graduated with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Marketing from RWU and earned a spot on the Commonwealth Coast Conference's All-Academic team in each of her three seasons.  Babin spent her freshman season playing for Carnegie Mellon University, before transferring to Roger Williams in 2006. 

Prior to her collegiate playing career, the Massachusetts native graduated from Salem High School, where she was a four-year varsity starter in basketball, and two-time NEC conference champion.  She was elected to the Salem High School Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005.