Rianne Thornton joined the Assistant Women's Basketball Coach in the summer of 2017.
Prior to Allegheny, Thornton served as an assistant coach since 2012 at nearby Thiel College after playing four seasons for the Tomcats. As a coach, Thornton planned practices, broke down game and opponent film and conducted individual workouts. Thornton also had various administrative duties with the team such as scheduling, fundraising, community service events, academic mentoring and budgeting.
Thornton also served as the assistant men's and women's tennis coach at Thiel, helping with recruiting, planning and conducting practice, player development court maintenance, game strategy and coordinating travel plans.
In addition to coaching duties at Thiel, Thornton also assisted in gameday operations as a clock operator for men's basketball, women's lacrosse and men's lacrosse, served as a game day manager for various sports and taught physical education classes in basketball and tennis.
As a student-athlete at Thiel, Thornton was a four-year starter and a three-year captain. She finished her career seventh all-time in assists (219) and eighth all-time in steals (185) in program history.
Thornton graduated from Thiel with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies in 2012.
