On March 5, 2026, the game clock at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall struck triple zeros, and redshirt senior guard Lexie Tarul’s basketball career seemingly ended with Marist’s fifth-consecutive first-round exit. Four months later, her career continues out of uniform and on the sidelines as an assistant coach at the University of Scranton. Head coach Kaitlyn Lewis announced the addition of Tarul to the staff in a June 30 press release, just four weeks after accepting the head coaching position. Lewis most recently coached at Rider University, an annual conference opponent for the Red Foxes.
Tarul joins one of the most decorated women’s basketball programs in Division III. The Royals have won 11 consecutive Landmark Conference championships, 12 of the past 13, 14 all-time and finished runner-ups in the NCAA Championship last season, their only loss of the season. Scranton owns an 80-41 (.661 winning percentage) all-time record in the NCAA Tournament, have reached at least the Elite Eight in each of the past three seasons and have lost just three regular season games in the past four seasons.
Beyond her playing career, Tarul brings prior coaching and student-athlete development experience to the Royals. She was a Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) head coach from 2021 to 2023, women’s basketball summer camp coach at Marist from 2023 to 2025 and interned with Marist’s Center for Student-Athlete Enhancement in 2024. As an intern, “she mentored incoming student-athletes, assisted with community service initiatives, and helped students transition to collegiate life,” according to the press release.
During her three years in Poughkeepsie, the Red Foxes heavily relied on Tarul’s talents. She played in each of Marist’s 93 games during her tenure, starting in all but five of them. She served as a team captain for the past two seasons, making the MAAC All-Academic, CSC Academic All-District and All-MAAC Third Team in both seasons.
Tarul helped transform Marist from a six-win season in 2023-2024 where she finished second on the team in scoring (225 points) to an above .500, 16-15 squad in 2024-2025, a campaign she finished second in blocks (14) and third in steals (28). Her best season, 2025-2026, included Marist’s second most points (381), free throws made (68) and rebounds (158). She finished tied for most steals (46) as one of two players to start all 31 games, logging a squad-best 1,046 minutes.
As a Red Fox, Tarul averaged 10.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 36% from the field, 33% from 3-point range and 77% from the free-throw line in nearly 30 minutes per game. She finished her career with 935 points, falling just short of the 1,000-point mark.
Edited by Mike Schiavone
Photo from Quinn DiFiore
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