AP FILE PHOTO - Northern Iowa women’s basketball coach Tanya Warren directs her team during the first half of a game against Drake on Feb. 24, 2017, at the Knapp Center in Des Moines.

CEDAR FALLS — The Northern Iowa athletic department and head women’s basketball coach Tanya Warren have agreed to a two-year contract extension that will see Warren’s leadership continue through the end of the 2026-27 season.

Warren and the Panthers are coming off the deepest postseason run in school history, which saw the Panthers advance to the WNIT semifinals.

“We are thrilled to keep coach Warren on our bench for the foreseeable future,” UNI athletic director David Harris said. “Our women’s basketball team continues to compete at a very high level on the court and perform very well academically. Our student-athletes leave this program ready to lead and contribute in their communities.”

The Panthers finished the year with a 17-13 record, including an 11-7 MVC mark. It is the 13th consecutive season with a .500 record or better in Valley play, it was the 12th year in a row finishing in the top half of the MVC standings and it was the 12th year in a row that UNI earned at least 17 wins.

“I am extremely honored that our administration continues to entrust me to lead this program,” Warren said. “I am blessed to be surrounded by amazing people and I couldn’t be more excited as together we continue to strive for excellence both on and off the court.”

The Panthers have advanced to the postseason 10 of the last 11 seasons (excluding the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season.)

Academically, the Panthers are among the nation’s leaders. UNI has finished in the WBCA Academic Top-25 10 times during her tenure.

Warren is the winningest coach in program history with 260 career wins. She also has 161 MVC wins in her 14 seasons at the helm. She was the Valley coach of the year in 2010-11, 2013-14 and 2015-16.

Warren is a native of Des Moines and is one of two players to have her jersey retired at Creighton. She began her college coaching career at Iowa State before Joining Tony DiCecco’s staff at UNI in 1995. She was an assistant at Missouri from 2001-04 and returned to Creighton in 2004 before taking the head coaching job at UNI in 2007 when she became the first African-American female head coach in UNI and Missouri Valley Conference history.