Born in McCleary, Washington, Craighead grew up in nearby Elma. A 1998 graduate of Elma High School, Craighead earned four first-team all-league honors in basketball and was Washington 2A Player of the Year as a senior. Craighead then attended the University of Oregon from 1998 to 2002. As a freshman, she played 12 games as a reserve, in a season where Oregon finished first in the Pac-10 and made the 1999 NCAA Tournament. In her sophomore season, Craighead moved up on the depth chart, as she became the team's second-leading three-point shooter and played in Oregon's 2000 NCAA Tournament first-round game, an overtime loss to UAB. Oregon again won the Pac-10 in 2000. In the 2000–01 season, Craighead started 28 games and averaged 11.4 points and 2.7 rebounds, in her third straight season on an Oregon team that made an NCAA Tournament. As a senior in 2001–02 under new coach Bev Smith, Craighead started 35 of 35 games and averaged 7.9 points and 2.4 rebounds, helping Oregon win the 2002 Women's National Invitation Tournament. In the WNIT title game, Craighead made a three-pointer with 1:20 left to put Oregon ahead of Houston, 51-50. Oregon would win 54-52. Craighead graduated from Oregon with a B.A. in educational studies.
Coaching career
Craighead became an assistant coach at Division IISeattle Pacific University in 2002 under Gordy Presnell. By Craighead's third season on staff, Seattle Pacific made the championship round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Moving up to the Division I level, Craighead was an assistant at Portland State from 2005 to 2007 under Charity Elliott. After two seasons at Portland State, Craighead joined Dan Muscatell's staff at Sacramento State. Craighead was promoted to associate head coach in 2008 then head coach in 2009. In her first season as head coach, Craighead led the Hornets to a 15–15 record, with a 10–6 record in Big Sky Conference games, good enough for a three-way tie for second place. In Craighead's final season in 2012–13, Sacramento State went 19–12, with both total and conference win totals reaching or meeting historic highs. Following the surprise resignation of women's basketball head coachTim LaKose, San Jose State hired Craighead on September 16, 2013 to replace La Kose. In her second season, Craighead led the #8 seed Spartans to the semifinals of the Mountain West Tournament after an upset of #1 seed Colorado State, in a 15–17 season that also saw San Jose State break school and conference records by scoring 119 points against Columbia. Craighead's third season with San Jose State in 2015–16 ended with a 13–17 record, including an 11–7 Mountain West record and fourth-place finish, the highest Mountain West win total and conference standing in Craighead's tenure. On June 30, 2016, San Jose State extended Craighead's contract through the 2020–21 season. In the next three seasons, San Jose State went 11–21 in 2016–17, 7–23 in 2017–18, and 6–24 in 2018–19. In the 2019–20 season, Craighead had her most successful season at San Jose State with a 19–12 record and tie for third place in the MW standings. This was San Jose State's best win-loss record in 15 years.
