Dina Piterniece enters her third year with the Northern Colorado women’s basketball team and her second as an assistant coach in 2012-13. In her first season, Piterniece was a graduate manager.

Piterniece is in charge of the team’s social media, as well as travel planning, video production and on the court, works with the forwards.

She also assists in home game management, meal planning and working with the youth who serve as ball kids. Piterniece continues to work closely with the Fast Break Club, the women’s basketball booster group. 

Piterniece came to Northern Colorado from the University of Colorado, where she played for the Buffaloes from 2007-09. Prior to that, she played basketball at Odessa Junior College, helping lead the team to the national championship in 2006-07. In that season, she was an All-American Second-Team pick after averaging over three three-pointers a game.

Piterniece is originally from Riga, Latvia. She is a veteran of several European Women’s Championships, playing for Latvia’s U20 team in 2005 and 2006, the U18 squad in 2004 and the U16 team in 2001. Her U20 team won a bronze medal at the 2005 European Championships.

Piterniece recently finished her master’s degree in sport administration from Northern Colorado after earning a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Sociology in 2009 from Colorado.