Amber Peterson is in her second year as head coach for the Lakeland women’s basketball program in 2021-22. She also serves as the Lakeland athletic department’s director of athletic enrollment.
Peterson navigated the COVID-19 pandemic in her first season in 2020-21 to lead the Muskies to a 6-6 record in an abbreviated season. Lakeland won its final four games to tie for fourth in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference North Division and qualify for the NACC divisional playoffs, falling to eventual NACC champion Wisconsin Lutheran.
Peterson took over the top spot on the women’s basketball staff after seven years as an assistant coach at Lakeland. She was a graduate assistant for two years and then spent five years as the team’s lead assistant. In her seven years as an assistant, Peterson was part of squads that won a combined 102 games. She was part of the 2016-17 team that advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament, and coached a total of 13 all-NACC players.
Peterson also had success as Lakeland’s women’s golf coach from 2016-21, leading the Muskies to five consecutive top-three finishes in the NACC Championships in her first four years, highlighted by winning the 2020-21 NACC title and making the program’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Division III Championships. Lakeland also boasted its first-ever individual NACC golf champion in 2019 (Ali Wilson) and posted many of the top individual and team scoring marks in program history.
Peterson came to Lakeland after serving as a student assistant at Augusta State (Ga.) University in 2012-13. She assisted the Jaguars while finishing up her bachelor’s degree in sociology, and also was a coach with the Georgia Sting AAU team.
Peterson made her way to Augusta State in 2011, playing her senior year at the NCAA Division II school and averaging 7.3 points per game while making 51 three-pointers and leading the Peach Belt Conference by making 43.2% of her attempt from behind the arc. Prior to playing at Augusta State, she spent one year at Southwest Minnesota State University, where she averaged 6.5 points and led the team with four assists per game. Peterson transferred to SW Minnesota State after spending two years at Iowa Western Community College, where she played for former Lakeland coach Lindsey Vande Hoef and finished fourth nationally in NJCAA Division I in assists while being named first team all-region.
Peterson is a native of Elkhorn, Neb., and a graduate of Elkhorn High School. She completed her master’s in counseling from Lakeland.
