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Rice Athletics Center | University of South Carolina
Saint Peter's vs. University of Maine
Sunday, November 20, 5pm
Saint Peter's vs. University of Hampton
Monday, November 21, 5pm
Saint Peter's vs. University of South Carolina
Tuesday, November 22, 7pm
Opening word
Saint Peter's women's basketball team will return back into action in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Classic as the meet the Hampton Pirates in the second round at the Colonial Life Arena located at University of South Carolina. Tip-off for the Peacocks will begin at 5pm.
Buzz on Hampton
Hampton dropped 83-92 to the No. 3/4 South Carolina Gamecocks. Malia Tate-DeFreitas led the Pirates with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists followed by Jephany Brown and Adria Strothers posting nine points each. The Peacocks will face All- American, Tate-DeFreitas as she is shy 8 points from 2,000 collegiate career points.
Last time out
The Saint Peter's women's basketball team fell to the University of Maine 43-59 in their opening game at the the Hall of Fame Classic in Columbia, SC. Junior, Alyssa Velles led the Peacocks with 12 points, while Talah Hughes followed with 10 points and the team-high of 14 rebounds.
Touching on Last Season
Saint Peter's finished the 2015-16 season with an overall record of 4-26 and 2-18 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
The squad won two MAAC contests, mid-season, on their home court, against Monmouth (67-62) and over Fairfield (56-46).
Saint Peter's graduated four players last season including power forward Hala Mostafa who led the team and ranked second in the MAAC for blocks and Bridget Whitfield who matched the NCAA consecutive three pointers in a game.
Saint Peter's will return seven players and add an additional four freshman to the team.
Returning Power Forwards
Talah Hughes has appeared in 30 games including six starts for the Peacocks. Last season, she averaged 8.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game posting in double figures 12 times. Hughes posted her career high of 17 points against Niagara on Jan. 8th.
Sam Meier has served as the top role player in her two years at Saint Peter's. She has started in all 60 career games since 2015 and averages 2.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. She tied her career high of 11 rebounds against St. Francis Brooklyn Nov. 22, 2015.
New to the Squad
The Peacocks welcome four rookies to the roster this season. Sammy Lochner (Abington, PA / Abington HS), Zoe Pero (Secaucus, NJ / St. John Vianney), Brianna Tarabocchia (Woodcliff Lake, NJ / Northern Valley Demarest HS) and Ashlie Howell (Bronx, NY / Christ The King High School).
All- MAAC Team
Sajanna Bethea (Levittown, PA / Pennsbury HS) has been named to the MAAC second team in the 2016-17 preseason poll. Last season she was named Third Team All-MAAC along with averaging 12.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. As power forward, she posted 18 double figure games in points, seven double digit games in rebounds and four double-doubles. Bethea notched a career high of 24 points against Niagara on Jan. 17. In her collegiate career , Bethea has made 61 appearances, including 56 starts while posting 679 career points and 437 rebounds.
Back on the Lineup
Senior, Imani Martinez (Annandale, NJ / North Hunterdon (East Tennessee State) has appeared in 11 games off the bench and will look to contribute to the team this season.
Junior, Alyssa Velles (Franklin, CT / Norwich Free Academy) reached double figures twice in the previous season and notched her season-high of 11 point against Brown on Dec. 30.
Sophomore, Janelle Mullen (Ozone Park, NY / The Hun School of Princeton) appeared in 28 games including six starts and averaged 3.6 points and 1.3 rebounds. Mullen posted two double digit point games and scored her season-high of 13 points against Rider on Feb. 9.
Sophomore, Janae Mayfield (Fair Haven, NJ / Rumson Fair Haven Regional) appeared in seven games including two starts. Mayfield will look to contribute to the lineup this season.
Meet the Coaching Staff
Pat Coyle
Pat Coyle is in her fourth season as head coach. During her second season in 2014-15, the Peacocks defeated the defending league champion, Marist in the regular season and advanced to the MAAC Quarterfinals. Sajanna Bethea became the first player under Coyle to earn all-league recognition with MAAC All-Rookie honors in 2014-15 and as an All-MAAC Preseason second-team selection in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
Coyle recently served as assistant coach at Pittsburg from 2010-12, where she helped advance the Panthers to the Big East Tournament second round in her first season. For more than 10 years Coyle coached the WNBA's New York Liberty, including five seasons as head coach. As assistant coach the Liberty recorded a record of 181-187 and a 81-89 mark as head coach.
Coyle returned to the MAAC after coaching Loyola from 1993-98 where she guided them to their only two MAAC championships and NCAA appearances.
A 1982 Rutgers Hall of Fame player, Coyle returned to her alma mater to serve as an assistant coach in 1985-89. Coyle helped the Scarlet Knights to a 110-19 including two trips to "Elite 8" and two appearances in the "Sweet 16."
Coyle finished her career with 1,209 points and currently ranks 23rd in team history. As a three-year-starter, she also registered 382 rebounds, 394 assists and 192 steals in 129 career games. She is a member of the united States Olympic Festival gold medal women's basketball team in 1979 and 1980 and also won a gold medal at the 1980 Pan American Games.
Phyllis Magina
Phyllis Mangina begins her fourth season as an women's basketball assistant coach under Pat Coyle in 2016-17.
Mangina returned to the coaching ranks after retiring as the women's basketball head coach at Seton Hall in 2010. Mangina was the women's basketball head coach at Seton Hall for 25 seasons where she won more than 340 games and coached three honorable mention All-Americans and 18 All-Big East selections. She guided Seton Hall to two NCAA Tournament appearances and three trips to the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).
A standout point guard with the Pirates from 1977-81, Mangina led Seton Hall to a 93-28 mark during her four-year playing career. Mangina held the Pirate records in career assists (441), assists in a season (151) and career steals (269). She is currently 11th on the all-time scoring list with 1,195 points. Mangina was one of 13 former Pirate student-athletes inducted into the Seton Hall Athletic Hall of Fame.
Antonia Smith
Former player, Antonia Smith joined the staff in her first season at her alma mater as assistant coach. Smith returns to her alma mater after serving as the U12 girls head coach of New Heights AAU travel team. Prior to becoming the head coach with the New Heights, she served as the assistant coach at Dwight School, during the 2015-16 season.
Smith played guard at Saint Peter's from 2011-15, appearing in 108 games over her four-year career, making 55 starts. She scored 728 career points, had 161 assists, grabbed 269 rebounds, and had 56 steals during her playing career. Smith recorded a career-high 26 points against Marist on Jan. 23, 2014.
Smith earned her degree in health and physical education in 2015.
