Ardie McInelly coached the Bengals from 1996-2001. Growing up in Mackay ID, Ardie and her siblings always played whichever sport was in season, but ultimately she pursued her first love, basketball. Ardie originally walked on to play basketball for Boise State, but eventually earned a scholarship and played four years of Division I basketball at BSU. After graduation, Ardie coached at both the high school and college levels, spending 9 years as a Division I assistant coach. In 1996, Ardie was hired as the women’s head basketball coach at ISU. In the 2000-2001 season, her team went undefeated in the Big Sky Conference regular-season, earning the top seed in the Big Sky Conference tournament which was held in Holt Arena. In 2001, only the top four schools were allowed to participate in the tournament. ISU defeated Weber State in the semi-finals, earning the opportunity to play the University of Montana in the championship game. In  front of 5,000 awesome fans, ISU defeated the Lady Griz, and earned the program’s first-ever bid to the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. After the historic 2000-2001 season at ISU, Ardie moved on to coach at the United States Air Force Academy where she spent the next nine years before retiring. 

• In her final year, 2000-2001, the Bengals went 16-0 in Big Sky play and 25-5 overall to earn the program’s first-ever berth in the NCAA tournament.
• Qualified for the Big Sky Conference Tournament 4 out of 5 seasons.
• Earned Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year in 1999-2000 and 2000-2001.
• The conference tournament championship in 2001 gave McInelly 77 wins, and at the time, tied her for the most career wins in program history.