Johanna Heffernan joined the Saint Anselm College women's basketball coaching staff in August of 2017.
A former Division I student-athlete at the University of Iowa, Heffernan has spent the last seven years as the website coordinator and tournament coordinator for Kessel Heat Basketball in Libertyville, Ill. In that role, she recruited athletes into the program, organized individual workouts, organized tournaments and practices and maintained all data and operations for over 300 players and as many as 40 teams.
She has also served as an assistant varsity coach and head junior varsity coach at Bedford High School, helping the Bucs to a runner-up finish in the state tournament in 2016-17. Prior to that, Heffernan was the freshman and junior varsity coach at Lake Zurich High School and Cary Grove High School.
Heffernan was a standout player at the University of Iowa, starting 108 of the 126 games she played in over four years. She finished her career as one of only two Hawkeyes to amass over 1,000 points, 550 rebounds, 350 assists and 175 steals. At the end of her career, Heffernan ranked fourth in career assists (391), fifth in three-pointers made (125), seventh in steals (192), 13th in rebounding (570) and 18th in scoring (1,130).
Following her time at Iowa, Heffernan played basketball overseas in Greece for two years. In 2008-09, she led Kalamaria Basketball in scoring (20.2 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg). The next year for Fea Basketball, Heffernan was the team's leading scorer (18.5 ppg) through the first half of the season before assuming the role of assistant coach after an injury.
Born in Lake Zurich, Ill., Heffernan was a first team all-state and all-conference choice in her senior year at Lake Zurich High School and went on to play in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Game and the McDonald's All-American Game that year. She was also named the Chicago Sun Times Illinois Player of the Year and was the runner-up for Illinois Ms. Basketball. Heffernan's Illinois Hustle AAU Team was a four-time Illinois state champion and advanced to the Final Four National AAU Tournament three times.
Heffernan graduated from the University of Iowa in 2008 with a bachelor of arts in health and sports studies.
