Dowling enters her second season at Whittier College. Her first season at Whittier in 2024-25 included a 21-5 record and a Regular Season SCIAC Championship. Dowling was fortunate to coach the SCIAC Offensive Player of the Year, Rhe Nae Leach. Under Dowling’s leadership, Leach had her best collegiate season which included being named a WBCA All-American Honorable Mention.
Dowling had a four-year run as the head coach of Division I Pepperdine University women's basketball from 2019-2023. Under Dowling, the Waves produced two All-WCC selections, two WCC All-Freshman team picks, and one WCC All-Tournament team member. They also reached the semifinals of the 2020 WCC Tournament. Dowling's time at Pepperdine was a homecoming of sorts, as she had worked as a graduate assistant and academic advisor during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons, then returned as an assistant coach for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 campaigns under then-head coach Julie Rousseau.
Prior to Pepperdine, Dowling was the Head Coach of SCIAC rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges. She led the Athenas to six consecutive 20-win seasons, including five seasons with at least 23 wins. Her tenure at CMS included six regular season SCIAC Championships, four SCIAC Tournament Championships, Four NCAA Tournament Appearances, and several Top-25 Appearances. She was fortunate to Coach two All-Americans, two SCIAC Players of the Year, and 10 All SCIAC Players. Dowling's Athenas are also notable for the 2015 season in which she and her staff were minted Coaching Staff of the Year, as they are the last SCIAC team to run the table at a perfect 16-0 in conference play.
Restricted to SCIAC games, Dowling's coaching record is a sterling 107-21. Excluding her first season, her Athenas teams dropped just eight SCIAC regular season games in six years.
Dowling is an Upland, Calif.-native who worked as an assistant coach at CSU Bakersfield for two seasons.
Dowling earned her Bachelor's degree from the University of Redlands in 2004 while majoring in Spanish and minoring in Physical Education. She earned her Master's degree from Pepperdine in educational technology in 2007.
