NEW YORK — Anne Donovan is back in the WNBA.

After leading the U.S. women to a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, Donovan has been hired as an assistant coach with the New York Liberty.

Donovan was 112-100 as a WNBA head coach with Charlotte and Seattle. She stepped down as the Storm's coach and director of player personnel after the 2007 season. Donovan was 93-77 in five seasons with the Storm, leading them to the league championship in 2004.

"I am thrilled to have somebody of Anne's caliber join our staff. She has shown success over the years as a player, as a coach," Liberty president and general manager Carol Blazejowski said in a conference call Tuesday. "She is someone who can teach, someone who knows how to win, can motivate folks to play at their optimal level."

Donovan was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1995, and into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2005, she became the first female coach in the WNBA to win 100 games.

She joins Pat Coyle's staff on a Liberty team that reached the Eastern Conference finals last season, losing to eventual champion Detroit in three games. New York also lost to the Shock in three games in the first round in 2007, a year after a franchise-record 23 losses.

"Anne's been to the finals as a head coach and she's won it as a head coach, and to me that experience, that wealth of knowledge, I can't wait to learn from her," Coyle said. "This is a year we need to get to the finals and do the damage we can do."

Coyle also said she looked forward to working with Donovan, a fellow New Jersey native.

"We've been friends for over 30 years," Coyle said. "We had a chance to play together as young kids. Never had the opportunity to coach together. At this stage of our careers, I couldn't be happier to have Anne with me and with this organization as we march to our ultimate goal in winning a WNBA championship."

The Liberty reached the finals four times in the league's first six years — losing each time — but have won only two postseason series since the last trip to the championship round in 2002.

Donovan said she thought about pursuing jobs at the college level, but "there wasn't anything super attractive."

"My heart is with the WNBA," she added. "I've had success in the league, I've loved the league, I'm a true fan of the league. I've seen it grow and evolve. I'm very eager to get back on the sidelines."

Donovan, who starred at Old Dominion and earned Olympic gold medals as a player in 1984 and 1988, became the first person in USA basketball history to win Olympic gold as an athlete and head coach. She was also an assistant on Van Chancellor's staff for the 2004 team that won gold in Athens.

The Liberty open training camp May 17, and their first preseason game is May 21 against Washington. New York will open the regular season at home against Connecticut on June 7.