MARSHALL, Minn. - Southwest Minnesota State University Director of Athletics Chris Hmielewski announced on Monday that four candidates have been invited to the Marshall campus as finalists in its search for a new head women's basketball coach.

The finalists include Allison Kruger, assistant coach at the University of South Dakota, Blaine Patterson, assistant coach at Duquesne University, Jessie Pelzel, head coach at Madison Area Technical College and Brent Pollari, associate head coach at Northern State University. 

The vacancy comes after Mike Jewett stepped down as head coach on March 1 after four seasons.

Hmielewski said the selection committee reviewed the files of nearly 40 candidates who met the minimum qualifications.  Each of the candidates will be on campus this week for interviews with the search committee, members of the team and university administration.  All four candidates will also have an open session with the community and members of the media from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. each day. 

Kruger will be on campus on Tuesday, and her open session will be held at the home of Todd and Mary Reif at 123 Savannah Heights Boulevard in Lynd.  Pollari's interview will be Wednesday, and his open session will be at the home of Tim and Judy Moberg at 902 Colmbine Drive in Marshall.  Patterson will be on campus on Thursday; his open session will be at the home of Bruce and Linda Saugstad at 508 Jaguar Court in Marshall.  Pelzel will be on campus on Friday and will have her open session at the home of Steve and Carol Kruger at 1204 Evergreen Ave. in Marshall.

Allison Kruger recently completed her second season as assistant coach at NCAA Division I University of South Dakota.  During her two seasons at USD, the Coyotes had a combined record of 33-27 as the program moves from NCAA Division II to Division I.  Prior to coming to USD, Kruger was an assistant for four seasons at Wayne State College.  During her time at WSC, the Wildcats compiled a record of 98-35, which included two appearances in the NCAA tournament and one Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championship.

Prior to starting her coaching career, Kruger played four seasons at the University of Nebraska-Kearney.  She was a second team All-America selection in 2004 and was honorable mention All-America in 2003.  In her career at UNK, she was selected conference player of the year twice and was a two-time all-region honoree.

Kruger is a 2004 graduate of the University of Nebraska-Kearney and earned her master's degree from Wayne State in 2006.

Blaine Patterson recently completed his third season as assistant coach at NCAA Division I Duquesne University, where he has helped lead the Dukes to back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in program history, while also making back-to-back appearances in the WNIT.  Prior to Duquesne, Patterson spent three seasons (2004-07) at the University of Illinois, spending one season as assistant to the head coach and the next two as an assistant coach. 

Patterson began his coaching career in 1998, spending four seasons (1998-2002) as an administrative assistant for the men's basketball program at the University of Wyoming before moving to the women's program at Wyoming, where he spent two seasons as an assistant coach (2002-04).

Patterson attended Southwest Minnesota State University for two years and planned to be a member of the men's basketball program, but an injury cut his career short.  He then transferred to the University of Wyoming, earning his bachelor's degree in 2002.  He also completed his master's degree from Wyoming in 2005.

Jessica Pelzel has spent the past four seasons as the head coach at Madison Area Technical College (Wis.), including leading her squad to the 2010 NJCAA Divison III national championship with a 31-3 record.  Pelzel is a three-time district and region coach of the year and was named the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 2009.

Pelzel began her coaching career at St. Cloud State University, where she spent one season (2003-04) as an assistant coach before moving to the College of St. Benedict, where she spent two seasons (2004-06).

Pelzel is a 2000 graduate of Southwest Minnesota State, where she played four seasons of basketball, appearing in 95 games and scoring 559 career points.  She earned her master's degree from St. Cloud State in 2005.

Brent Pollari recently completed his third season as an assistant coach at Northern State University.  He began his collegiate coaching career at NCAA Division I Montana State University, where he spent one season (2001-02) as an assistant coach and helped lead MSU to a conference championship.  Pollari was also an assistant coach at Northern State for two seasons (2004-06) and spent one season at Texas A&M Kingsville (2006-07) before returning to NSU in 2007.  Pollari also coached four seasons at the high shool level, including serving two seasons as head girls' basketball coach at Corvallis High School in Corvallis, Mont.

Pollari is a 2001 graduate of the University of Mary and earned his master's degree from Northern State in 2006.

Southwest Minnesota State University is located in Marshall, Minn., and is a member of NCAA?Division II.