HACKENSACK, N.J. - FDU Director of Athletics Bradford Hurlbut announced Sunday the departure of women's basketball head coach Angelika Szumilo after four seasons leading the Burgundy and Blue. Szumilo will pursue another opportunity in the collegiate ranks.

"When we hired Ang in 2019, I knew she would make a tremendous impact on our women's basketball program and could never have imagined the heights we've reached in four seasons," said Hurlbut. "Today, thanks to her leadership, we boast a successful program that has become highly competitive in the New York Metropolitan Area, earning recognition on the national stage and reaching the pinnacle of the Northeast Conference on and off the court. I am excited about the future of Knights women's basketball and we all wish Ang well at Iona!"

A two-time Northeast Conference Brenda Reilly Coach of the Year, Szumilo led the Knights to four NEC tournament semifinal appearances in as many seasons with the first pair impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first coach hired by Hurlbut in his tenure on the Hackensack, Szumilo arrived at FDU in April 2019 from Fordham where she spent eight years as the Rams' associate head coach. FDU provided the Stalowa Wola, Poland native with her first head coaching opportunity.

"FDU has been and will always remain a very special place for my family and I," remarked Szumilo. "Our (husband Rafal and Szumilo's) boys [Krystian and Daniel] spent their time on the court, on the field and experienced all the Knight highs in the last four years. I am so proud of what we were able to accomplish and how we grew every single year as a program. This doesn't happen without the support we received from our administration.  I want to thank Cathy Liggett, Jason Young, Jennifer Quirk, Lynne Miles, all my fellow coaches and the rest of the FDU community for their constant support.

Szumilo continued, "I especially want to thank Brad Hurlbut for taking a chance on a first-year head coach four years ago. Under his guidance, leadership and mentorship, I was able to evolve as a coach, leader, co-worker and a person and for that, I will forever be grateful.

Speaking about her teams at FDU, Szumilo said, "To the squad, thank you for always doing what's right. Thank you for always giving your best and proving that hard work, grit, confidence, trust and togetherness can make us champions not just on the court but more importantly in life. You are W.I.N.N.E.R.S."

In year one, Szumilo took the Knights from 8-22 the year prior to her hire to a .500 record in NEC play, leading FDU to earn the 3-seed in the NEC tournament with the squad hosting their first postseason game inside Stratis Arena since 1997. Facing Bryant in the 2020 quarterfinal, the Knights logged their first NEC tournament victory since 1992 with a 14-point decision over the Bulldogs, 57-43. The victory earned the Burgundy and Blue a trip to the NEC semifinal at Mount St. Mary's, though the game was cancelled due to COVID-19. Three Knights earned All-NEC honors in the 2019-20 campaign. Additionally, the team set the then-single-season record for made three-pointers with 197, later surpassed by this past season's 230 made triples.

Year two resulted in the second NEC semifinal appearance in a row as Szumilo's Knights qualified for the program's seventh-straight NEC tournament. Finishing 16-8 with a 12-6 mark in the NEC, the Knights excelled under her tutelage in a season without fans, entering the semifinal bout at Mount St. Mary's having won the team's last seven regular season conference contests. Four student-athletes earned All-NEC accolades, including First Team All-NEC honoree Madison Stanley.

Finishing 15-3 in NEC play en route to winning the NEC regular season crown for just the second time in program history, the Knights recorded a plethora of milestones with the Knights posting 12 home victories in 'Coach Ang's' third season, holding opponents to under 60 points a night thanks to her emphasis on the defensive end. Stanley garnered further hardware under Szumilo's guide, eclipsing the 1,000-points-scored threshold, the first in Szumilo's tenure, while also being named the NEC's Player of the Year. Stanley was named to the First Team All-Met following the season. The Woodbridge, N.J. native also nabbed 500 career rebounds over her five seasons on the Hackensack, the last three with Szumilo. Szumilo earned her first of two-straight NEC Coach of the Year honors and led the Knights to the program's first-ever appearance in the WNIT, facing Seton Hall. FDU played host to the conference semifinal, in her third-consecutive NEC tournament bid. The March 2022 tilt represented the first postseason game in program history.

Recently capping the most decorated campaign in program history, Szumilo's Knights led the nation in three-point percentage defense, holding opponents to 22.1 percent shooting behind the arc, ahead of Houston who finished the year in second by two percentage points (24.1). Sticking with the "locked in" mentality on defense, FDU finished seventh in all of Division I in scoring defense with foes averaging just 53.2 points a game in 32 games played. Finishing with a remarkable 24-8 record, FDU went 14-2 in NEC play, earning the NEC regular season title. Notching 12 home wins, FDU cruised through the first two rounds of the NEC tournament, hosting Sacred Heart in the nationally-televised final.

Szumilo, an undergraduate student-athlete at then-LIU-Brooklyn, entered the 2023 tournament as the only current NEC coach with a league title to their name as an NEC student-athlete having won it all in 2001 with the Blackbirds. The No. 1 seed in consecutive NEC tournaments for the first time in program history, FDU placed two student-athletes on All-NEC teams in Chloe Wilson and Sierra DeAngelo, the former on the First Team. Despite falling to the Pioneers, FDU again earned a trip, the Knights' second, to the WNIT where FDU faced Columbia in the opening round.

Making an impact in all phases of the student-athlete experience, Szumilo's players earned NEC Winter Academic Honor Roll status over 25 times with the 2022-23 honor roll yet to be tabulated.

Szumilo finished her four seasons at FDU with a record of 72-45, 50-20 in the NEC, with double-digit conference wins in her final three seasons at FDU. Her teams finished 4-3 in NEC tournament games and 0-2 in the WNIT. Szumilo leaves FDU as the second-winningest coach in team history.

A national search for the eighth head coach in program history is underway.

Connect with FDU women's basketball on Twitter and Instagram, @FDUKnightsWBB.