Ashley Lona is in her third year as head coach of the Lakeland women’s basketball team in 2025-26.
Lona’s teams have posted a 21-30 overall record in her first two seasons, including a 12-14 mark last year. The Muskies improved their overall win total by three games and posted a 9-7 mark in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference to qualify for the NACC Tournament. Eighth-seeded Lakeland then led well into the second half before falling to top seed and regular season champion St. Norbert. The Muskies finished the season leading the NACC in steals and steals per game, and set several school records including new marks for points in a game (112) and made field goals (51) against Northland College Dec. 13, 2024.
Lona’s first season at Lakeland started slow but finished on an encouraging note, as a young, inexperienced team entering the season found its stride late. The Muskies started losing 14 of their first 18 games, but put together a five-game win streak late in the season before coming up just short of a spot in the NACC Tournament. Lakeland averaged 74.4 points per game over its final seven games playing a fast-paced style and also for the season finished third in the NACC in turnovers forced and steals.
Lona came to Lakeland with seven years of experience as an assistant coach and administrator with programs at the NCAA Division I, II and III levels. Before joining the Muskies she was an assistant coach the past two years at NCAA Division III University of Redlands (Calif.), where she was part of a successful program with teams that posted a combined 38-13 record over two years. The Bulldogs won the 2023 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament to advance to the NCAA Division III National Tournament. Redlands also won the SCIAC regular season title in 2021-22, finishing 19-5 overall.
Before her time at Redlands, Lona was the director of basketball operations at Southern Illinois University for two years. She handled administrative duties for the NCAA Division I Salukis of the Missouri Valley Conference including travel, recruiting, fundraising and also was the team's academic liaison.
Lona also was a graduate assistant coach at Montana State University-Billings from 2011-13, and began her coaching career as a volunteer assistant coach with the men's basketball program at NCAA Division II Northern State (S.D.) University under legendary coach Don Meyer. In between her time as a coach, Lona also worked in the fitness industry for three years, including two years as general manager and head strength/conditioning coach at Calibrate Sports Health in Littleton, Colo.
Lona played three years of basketball at Northern State, appearing in 20 games over her freshman and sophomore seasons before knee injuries cut short her playing career. She received her bachelor's degree in marketing and administration with a minor in coaching from Northern State in 2010 and completed her master's in exercise and sport leadership from Montana State-Billings in 2013.
