Allison Nichols joined the Roanoke Women's Basketball staff in July of 2017. In August of 2019 was promoted to Associate Head Coach.

Nichols is entering her third season with the Maroons. In 2018-19 Nichols teamed with Carla Flaherty to lead Roanoke to 18 wins, the most for the program since 2011. Roanoke also earned the seventh seed in the 2019 ODAC Tournament and would knock off second-seeded and nationally ranked Emory & Henry in the quarterfinals.

No stranger to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, Nichols led the women's hoops program at Randolph College for six years, which saw the WildCats earn its two highest win totals in program history.

A Lynchburg, Virginia native, Nichols has coached at all three NCAA levels following a brief stint in the high school ranks. She served as the assistant women's basketball coach at Augusta State University (Augusta, Ga.) from 2006-2008 where she was responsible for assisting in all aspects of the women's basketball program. At Augusta State, Nichols helped lead the squad to a 38-20 record over two years, including a South Atlantic Region top-three finish, Peach Belt Conference regular season co-championship, and NCAA Tournament berth in 2008. 

Prior to Augusta State, Nichols served as assistant varsity girl's basketball coach at Loudoun County High School. During her two years at Loudoun County, the team was crowned Dulles District and Region II Champions, while earning a trip to the Virginia State Final Four finishing 29-2 in the 2005-2006 season.

In 2008, Nichols joined East Carolina University's women's basketball program, serving as director of basketball operations. At East Carolina, Nichols was responsible for all team travel, film exchange, recruiting, marketing and promotions, and community service events. She helped coach the Pirates to a 22-10 overall mark and a trip to the NCAA WNIT Tournament. 

Nichols played at ODAC rival Bridgewater College, where she was part of a team that won two regular-season conference titles and had a 76-32 overall record.