Assistant Coach

Heather Ivey enters her fourth season with the Centenary softball program in 2026 and third as Assistant Coach after serving as the volunteer assistant for the Ladies in 2022. 

Ivey assisted head coach Whitney Patterson last season in leading the Ladies to a single-season program record 21 wins and an appearance in the SCAC Tournament semifinals. Ivey was chosen as Centenary Athletics' Assistant Coach of the Year at the annual end of season banquet in April.

The Ladies finished the 2025 season at 21-22 overall and 14-15 in SCAC play, and went 2-2 in the SCAC Tournament falling one game shy of advancing to the championship round. Centenary's 21 wins last season are the most in a single season in the D3 era and the 14 conference wins are also the most in a single season in the D3 era.

Centenary, the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament, rebounded from a 6-2 loss to the No. 3 seed Trinity University Tigers in their tournament opener to notch consecutive elimination-round victories over the No. 5 seed McMurry University War Hawks and a 5-3 win over Trinity before being eliminated by the nationally-ranked and No. 1 seed Texas Lutheran Bulldogs. The Ladies have now made nine-consecutive SCAC Tournament appearances. 

Ivey, a Shreveport native, was a standout second baseman at Southwood High School who earned all-district honors. She went on to play collegiately at NCAA Division II Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Ark. In 2008, she was selected to go play in Holland on the USA International Team. 

Ivey helped lead the Ladies to a 13-27 (8-13) season last year finishing fifth in the conference after being picked to finish fifth in the preseason polls.  The Ladies hit .294 as a team with a .361 on-base percentage and slugged .365. 

The Ladies scored 176 runs, averaged 4.4 runs per game and finished with a team ERA of 4.34. The Ladies ranked in the top five in the SCAC in batting average, hits, runs scored, RBI, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, walks, stolen bases, HBP, doubles, triples, and stolen bases during the regular season. The Ladies collected 10+ hits in a game 17 times this season and ranked 92nd nationally in stolen bases. 

Ivey batted .280 with a .342 on-base percentage and slugged .377 in 2010 at Henderson State and finished the season with a .974 fielding percentage as she committed just one error. In 2011 she hit .252 with a .333 OBP and slugged .321 with 14 RBI, a .917 fielding percentage and only two errors. In 2012 she hit .242 with 10 RBI, had a .324 OBP and slugged .303 with no fielding errors. 

Ivey majored in political science and minored in criminal justice as has a masters’ degree in Psychology from The University of Arizona. She served as the assistant coach for Louisiana Freedom fastpitch 18U Team in 2013. 

Ivey worked as a police officer/detective at the Bossier City Police Department from 2013-2017.