College basketball: Gilson named new women's basketball coach at CC

For Marquessa Gilson, family is a top priority.

She's got two types; her immediate and her Washington State family. She's the middle child of three, part of a family that's rich in competitive drive and athletics.

Yet when life hit Gilson the hardest, it was her PNW colleagues that reached out to her when she needed it the most.

And they didn't even know what she was dealing with.

"I was at a low point," Gilson said. "I had former players calling me and those conversations, it kind of let me know that my work wasn't done. Maybe I wasn't in the right place. There's lessons I've learned over the last two years and everything led me back here."

Welcome home, Marquessa.

A former Division II women's basketball player herself, Gilson was named Centralia College's new women's basketball coach in May, her second head coaching job in the NWAC. She succeeded Tiffany Twiddy after the Trailblazers ended the 2025-26 campaign with a 9-18 record.

"I get to create my own chapter here, which is pretty special," Gilson said.

For a while, coaching was not on Gilson's radar; in fact, she never even considered coaching growing up. It was her mother that saw the connectivity between playing the game and coaching the game.

Now, she's ready to embark on her next challenge and get CC back into the NWAC Tournament and in her mind, become a marquee event during the winter months in downtown Centralia.

"I didn't really want to coach after my collegiate career was done," Gilson said. "Playing at the four-year level felt like a business. It fueled me to have the mentality to get into the business of coaching and treat people as human beings."

Her oldest brother, Russell, and her youngest brother Marcus, have been at the forefront in her mind for much of her life.

Marcus was a former Trailblazer for two years from 2017 to 2019. Whenever Gilson was home, there would be a live stream to watch her brother play, a regular nighttime occurrence in the Gilson household.

Whenever the family would head to the Hub City to see Marcus in person, the atmosphere stuck with Marquessa.

"It was always a family affair," she said.

And then there's her older brother Russell, who she's right beside while he battles a treatable cancer and provides inspiration and motivation for his baby sister.

It was Russell's cancer diagnosis that hit Marqueesa hard, to the point where she fell out of love with coaching.

Still, when Centralia College athletic Director Jason Moir gave her a ring and put and pushed her in the direction to apply, she felt it was too good of a chance to take for granted.

"I followed what felt right and Centralia felt right," Gilson said. "It felt where my heart and soul meant to be."

She describes her game and her coaching as "defensive-minded" and seeks to bring that to CC. A former prep star at Cyprus High School in Utah in three sports, Gilson first started her collegiate athletic journey at BYU-Hawaii, a DII program in Utah. That didn't last long, since they only had athletics for two years before shutting all athletic programs down.

She transferred to Colorado Mesa University, another DII school, then finished up her undergrad at Weber State University. It was fitting to graduate at Weber State, because that's where both her parents graduated from college.

"It definitely held a special place (in my heart)," Gilson said. "I thought it was pretty cool."

Gilson got into coaching pretty quickly after completing her undergrad while also getting her masters at Western Governors University. She was an assistant at her alma mater, before jumping into the college ranks.

In 2022 she joined the staff at Lower Columbia College and helped the Red Devils win the NWAC Championship. It turned out to be a brief stop in Longview before taking her first career head coaching job at Pierce College in Lakewood.

"Players understand things at a deeper level, you can do a lot of advanced skillwork," Gilson said. "That was a lot of fun. LCC taught me a lot; it is a program of champions."

In her two years at the helm, she led them to back to back NWAC tournament appearances and winning records. She felt her defensive process and her ability to establish relationships were early hallmarks

Gilson jumped to a pair of four year universities at Adams State and Westminster as an assistant. Throughout each stop, she learned just a little bit more about herself in order to continually improve as a coach and a leader at both two and four year programs.

"The thing I did really well, and I think it still is a strength of mine, is the connection I build and have with my players," Gilson said. "I had to grow in game management. Being the captain of the ship, I don't have that time to sit and think."

The Trailblazers went just 4-8 in league play and graduated three sophomores. Most of the core is expected back for the 2026-27 season. Of their nine wins overall, just four of them came on their home floor.

"To me, there is no doubt in my mind, we have to make the tournament," Gilson said. "From there, build every single year."

Gilson remains busy before she even takes the sideline for her first CC game in November. She's currently coaching an AAU team out in a tournament in Kentucky this weekend and moving from Utah to Washington isn't a hop, skip and a jump either.

Yet for a program that has given back to her family and an area that's been with her at low points, Gilson wouldn't want it any other way.

"There's people around me that believe in me and that makes a huge difference," Gilson stated. "I can see myself being here for a long time."

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This story was originally published July 11, 2026 at 11:21 AM.