Syracuse, N.Y. -- Before it introduced Shannon Doepking as its new softball coach earlier this month, SU Athletics hadn't hired a female head coach in more than a decade.
The hiring broke a streak of 12 consecutive male head coaches hired by the school, including eight to lead women's programs.
Syracuse had just one female head coach in 2017-18. According to the University of Minnesota's Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sports, only two of the 347 Division I schools in the country had fewer.
In terms of gender representation, Syracuse ranked ahead of Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Virginia Military Institute.