Bio

Ben Lister enters his fifth season as head coach of the women's basketball program.   In his four seasons as coach, the women's program has a combined record of 70-46 with four-straight winning seasons. The 2024-25 season finished with 22 wins, which is second-most in program-history, and the program's first 20-win season in 29 years.  Lister has also produced the 2022 Heart Freshman of the Year (Giavanna Moore), the 2022 Heart Defensive Player of the Year (Ana Arroyo) and a total of 12 Heart All-Conference selections in his four seasons.

Lister comes to Missouri Valley after a successful tenure as head coach of the women's basketball program at Baker (Kan.) University, from 2011-2018. In his seven seasons with the Baker program, Lister won the program's first regular season conference title in 31 years, in 2014. Lister also accomplished the program's first-ever sweep of Heart titles in 2017, winning both the regular season and postseason tournament championships. In 2014, he guided the program to its first-ever appearance at the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship, and earned four-straight National tournament appearances, which included a National runner-up finish in 2016. Lister was named the Heart Women's Basketball Coach of the Year three times (2013, 2014, 2017) and finished with an overall record of 154-77, to go with a 98-41 record in conference play. His teams set school records for single-season wins three times, culminating with a 30-win campaign in the 2016-17 season.

Lister also coached six NAIA Division I Women's Basketball All-Americans, two Heart Women's Basketball Player of the Year award winners, a three-time Heart Defensive Player of the Year award winner and over 20 NAIA Scholar Athletes.

Prior to his tenure at Baker, Lister spent four years as an assistant coach at Baron (Kan.) Community College, from 2007-2011, where he was part of a staff that won two Jayhawk Conference championships (2008-2009) and tied the school record for single-season wins, with 34 wins in the 2007-08 season. Lister also coached four NJCAA All-Americans. He spent two seasons as head coach of the women's basketball program at Manhattan Christian (Kan.) College, from 2005-2007, and was named the conference and region Coach of the Year in 2005, won two conference championships (2005-2006), finished third at the NCCAA Division II National Tournament (2005), coached two Conference Player of the Year winners, developed three NCCAA Division II All-Americans and tied the program's single-season record for most wins, with 27 in the 2004-05 season.

Lister graduated from Wichita State (Kan.) in 2005 with a bachelor of science degree in sports administration.