Texas State women’s basketball is entering a new chapter as the program looks to reset and build toward the future, bringing in proven winner Chris Kielsmeier as its next head coach.

Coming off an 11-19 season, the Bobcats moved on from Zenarae Antoine after she led Texas State for 15 seasons, leaving San Marcos as the all-time winningest coach with 225 victories, including a 2023 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year award after the Bobcats won the Regular Season Championship.

Kielsmeier arrives from the Cleveland State Vikings, where he built a consistent winning program over the past eight seasons, amassing a 178-80 record, falling just shy of the program record of 206.

The Vikings posted six 20-win seasons during his tenure, including four straight with at least 26 wins.

Cleveland State also reached the NCAA tournament in 2023 and secured its first Horizon League regular-season title the following year.

Prior to Cleveland State, Kielsmeier had success at multiple collegiate levels, amassing a total career record of 594-196, highlighted by an undefeated national championship run at Howard Payne University, out of Brownwood, Texas in 2008.

He has led teams to 15 postseason appearances and coached in the NCAA tournament at the Division I, II and III levels.

“I am thrilled to be joining the Texas State community and looking forward to an amazing opportunity to build something really special…,” Kielsmeier said in an official release from Texas State. “I can’t wait to get started with building on the tradition and success the program has had in the past while instilling a new standard of excellence that will see the Bobcats women’s basketball program become a perennial contender for championships and postseason bids.”

Texas State is still searching for its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2003 and just the second in program history, a mark they will look to achieve under the leadership of Kielsmeier as the Bobcats embark into a new era with the Pac-12.