sports spotlight: Krista Binam

By Mike Tupa
January 27, 2025
Bartlesville Area Sports Report

KRISTA BINAM

In 2015, then-Bartlesville High School Athletic Director Tim Bart called a press conference to introduce Krista Binam as the new girls head basketball coach.

No one could known that day a new golden revival of Lady Bruin basketball had begun.

Not that Bartlesville girls’ hoops had been down. Just a few years earlier they had advanced to the state area consolation final two seasons in a row.

But with the graduation of Paige Wilson, Sierra Crow, and other seniors following the 2012-13 campaign, and Julie Benyshek, Olivia Culver, All-Stater Ali Nakvinda and other talent following the 2013-14 odyssey, Bartlesville found itself with a huge drain of talent and experience and diminishing success.

The loss of the class of 2015 was especially devastating — future 6-foot-2 college All-American Hailey Tucker, Gabby Culver, sharp-shooting Rachel Behar, and other stalwarts. Even with Tucker and the others, Bartlesville won only 11 games that season.

That’s when Binam stepped in, possessing a wealth of experience with previous head coaching experience at Bixby and Owasso and college assistant time at Oral Roberts University, where she had also starred as an All-American player. She had graduated from Indianola High.

In coming to Bartlesville, Binam inherited a mostly inexperienced and young group for the 2015-16 hardwood wars.

Binam would depend heavily on freshman and sophomore talent that season, some of them including Jena’ Williams, Avery Allen and Trinity Parker.

Even so, Bartlesville reached the double-digit win level. In 2016-17, Bartlesville bolted to 16 triumphs.

But it was 2017-18 when Binam cemented her place as one of the great coaches in Bartlesville High history.

Led by juniors Williams, Parker and Allen and seniors Destiny Harris, Erin Shoemaker, Rachael Simpson and Vivian Culver, the Lady Bruins burst to a 23-0 regular season record — the only varsity ball team sport in Bartlesville High history to finish undefeated.

The monumental achievements didn’t stop there. 

Bartlesville proceeded to advance to the state tournament — the first Lady Bruin basketball team to do so in 25 years.

Binam unexpectedly resigned in the spring of 2018 to accept a job at Metro Christian. She left behind a strong group with three starters back from the state tourney team.

Binam’s cumulative Bartlesville record was 52-26 (.667). 

Krista Binam (center)

Photo provided