Former Tech player Levingston named NSU women's basketball assistant

NATCHITOCHES - New Northwestern State women's basketball co-head coaches Brooke and Scott Stoehr tapped into their past when building their Lady Demons coaching staff, bringing former Louisiana Tech guard Nastassja Levingston, a Ruston native, on board as an assistant coach.

A four-year letterwinner from 2004-08 while the Stoehrs were on the Lady Techster coaching staff, Levingston will be a key asset in NSU's focus on recruiting Louisiana student-athletes. She was a three-year first-team Class 5A All-State star from 2001-03 and a state champion in the long and triple jumps at Ruston High School.

"I am extremely excited to add Nastassja to our staff," said Brooke Stoehr. "Having seen her firsthand as a dedicated, student athlete to watching her growth as a young professional, I am confident she will be a great fit for the community of Natchitoches and our program. 

"Nastassja has worked extremely hard for this opportunity and will bring a dynamic energy and work ethic to the staff.  Nastassja has deep ties in Louisiana as a player and coach that will benefit us greatly as we focus our recruiting efforts throughout the state," said Stoehr.

She and Brittany Godsey, who was a graduate assistant coach at Southern Mississippi when Brooke Stoehr was an assistant coach there, complete the Lady Demon coaching staff alongside the Stoehrs.

Levingston was a starting guard as a senior for the Lady Techsters while she played in 87 career contests.

Since graduating from Louisiana Tech in 2008 with a business administration degree, Levingston was an assistant girls basketball coach at Ruston's Cedar Creek High School, head junior high coach, and for the past year also worked in private business in Ruston.

As a senior in 2007-08, she was the Louisiana Tech Radio Network Player of the Game five times while she started 19 of 29 games. She averaged 8.2 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 0.6 assists per game while she shot 34 percent from the field, 33 percent from the three-point line and 73 percent from the free throw line. Levingston sank a team-high 39 three-pointers on the season, making at least one in 24 of her 29 games.

She three times scored a career-high 17 points that season, against Western Kentucky, Alabama, and Boise State. Levingston memorably registered a four-point play in the final minute to help the Techsters come from five points back and down Alabama in Tuscaloosa. She posted a career-high six steals in a win over Idaho and also scored in double figures against Memphis (15 points), Sam Houston State (12 points), Hawaii (13 points), Nevada (12 points), San Jose State (14 points) and Fresno State (10 points) in her final season.

As a junior, Levingston won the McKinney Honda Offensive Player of the Game (Tech Radio Network) twice as she saw action in 23 games. She averaged 3.6 points and 1.0 rebounds per game while averaging 9.0 minutes, making 33 percent from the field, 30 percent from the three-point line and 71 percent from the free throw line. Levingston scored a then-career-high 13 points in wins over Idaho and San Jose State. She registered a career-high four assists in a win over Fresno State.

A point guard for coach Ricky Durrett at Ruston High School for four years, Levingston helped lead the Lady Bearcats to LHSAA Sweet 16 appearances in 2000 and 2001 and into the state playoffs all four years. She averaged 21.2 points and 5.9 assists as a senior.

Levingston was named first-team Class 5A all-state and all-district in 2001, 2002 and 2003. She was twice first-team Monroe News-Star All-Northeast Louisiana and Shreveport Times All-Area, and two-time Ruston Daily Leader Lincoln Parish Player of the Year

State champion in the long jump and triple jump in 2001, Levingston was state runner-up in the long and triple jump in 2002 and 2003. She won the district in the long and triple jumps in 2001 and 2002 and 100-meter hurdles in 2002 and 2003. Her personal best marks were 14.8 in 100-meter hurdles, 19-7 3/4 in the long jump and 39-8 1/2 in the triple jump, and she won the track team's academic award all four years she competed.