Though her tenure at the college was short, Lovato left a legacy that will last forever.

In her two seasons as head coach in 2013 and 2014, the Lady Cardinals went a combined 72-2 and captured back-to-back NJCAA championships. In the 2010 season, she took over as interim head coach the last 11 games, resulting in a 9-2 record, conference and regional championships and sixth-place finish at the national tournament with a seven-player roster.

Lovato, who was 81-4 overall and 10-2 in national tournament games leading the Lady Cardinals, was named NJCAA Division I Coach of the Year after the 2014 season.

After leaving following her stint as interim head coach, she served as an assistant coach at the University of Nebraska-Omaha before taking over as head coach at Grayson College. Inheriting a team that was 4-26 the previous season, Lovato led the Lady Vikings to a 32-4 record and fifth-place finish at the national tournament. She was named Junior College Coach of the Year by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches.

Upon departing the college after the back-to-back national title seasons, Lovato served two stints on Vic Schaefer’s staff at Mississippi State, sandwiched around a two-year stint as head coach at Arkansas-Fort Smith, where she won 37 games.

She followed Schaefer to the University of Texas for the 2021 season, serving as assistant coach/recruiting coordinator. Texas advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.

Lovato is currently out of coaching and residing back in her native state New Mexico.