University of Maine women’s basketball coach Amy Vachon has agreed to a contract extension that will keep her with the Black Bears through 2028, the school announced Tuesday.

The deal retroactively begins Jan. 1 and replaces the four-year deal she signed in 2021. Vachon will earn $210,000 in 2024-25, with an increase of $8,000 per year through 2028. She had been making $180,000 annually, according to the university.

Vachon has been head coach of the Black Bears since March 2018 after serving as an interim coach earlier in the 2017-18 season. She coached UMaine to the America East Conference championship and the NCAA tournament in 2018 and 2019, and has been honored four times as the conference’s Coach of the Year.

Vachon has led the Black Bears to a 143-76 record, including 93-25 in America East. This season Maine is 13-8 overall and 6-1 in the conference.

“I want to thank President (Joan) Ferrini-Mundy and (Athletic Director) Jude Killy for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to continue serving as head women’s basketball coach here at UMaine,” Vachon said in a news release from the school.

“This university, program and state all hold a very special place in my heart, and it is an honor to work here. I am so fortunate to work with the incredible young women that are in our program and alongside an amazing staff. I am excited to continue coaching Maine women’s basketball.”

An Augusta native, Vachon graduated from UMaine in 2000 and still holds the school record for assists in a career (759) and in a season (234).

Maine led Division I women’s basketball in the 2020-21 season with the highest team cumulative GPA (3.90), then earned the third-highest GPA the following season. Last year the Black Bears earned the fifth-highest GPA in the country.

“(Vachon) has been a successful student-athlete here and is now an extraordinarily successful coach. She, and her teams, strive for comprehensive excellence. They have a championship culture, with assistant coaches and students committed to each other,” Killy said in a statement.  “They dominate in the classroom, win on the court, treat others with respect and are a guiding light in helping our department define our culture. “

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