2021 Hercules Tires MAAC Basketball Championships Program

WOMEN’S ROSTER No. Name Cl.

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Ht.

Hometown

PLAYER TO WATCH A 2020 All-MAACWomen’s Basketball Third Team member, Taiah Thornton hasn’t lost a step in this year’s campaign with the Peacocks. After being voted to the Preseason All-MAAC Second team ahead of this season, Thornton has been a force in 2020–21, leading the team in scoring, steals, and minutes played. The Pennsauken native enters the 2021 MAAC Basketball Championships as a two-time Hercules Tires MAACWomen’s Basketball Player of the Week following her first career triple-double against NJIT on Jan. 15 and a 30-point performance at Rider on Jan. 17. NOTABLE ALUMNI Stephanie DeWolfe ’97 graduated as one of the most decorated student-athletes in program history and was an instrumental piece in helping the team go undefeated in conference play on the way to a MAAC tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth in 1997. She was named to the MAAC Honor Roll in 2019. DeWolfe served as an assistant coach at Saint Peter’s under legendary head coach Mike Granelli for six seasons, in which the team claimed three MAAC Championships and three NCAA appearances. DeWolfe then took over the reins for nine seasons; over that span, she recruited and coached six 1,000-point scorers, coached one MAAC Defensive Player of the Year, one All-MAAC First team selection, three All-MAAC Second team selections, five All-MAAC Third team selections and five MAAC All-Rookie selections. DeWolfe was a first-ballot inductee into the Saint Peter’s University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.

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Binta Salawu

Jr.

G 5-4 Sydney, Australia G 5-5 Pennsauken, NJ PG 5-3 Rahway, NJ G 5-5 Amherst, NY G 5-7 Old Bridge, NJ G/F 6-1 Stafford, VA G/F 5-9 New York, NY

Taiah Thornton Tyara McQueen

R-Sr.

Jr. Jr. Fr. Fr. Fr. Fr. Fr. Jr.

Nickelle O’Neil

11 12 13 14 15 20 23 24 33

Rachel Kuhl

Ajia James

Cinnamon Dockery

Taylor Abraham

F F F

5-11 Freeport, NY 6-2 Queens, NY

Sky Castro

Victoria Ikenasio Kendrea Williams

6-1 Melbourne, Australia

R-Sr.

G 5-9 Piscataway, NJ

Jenna Clark Giah Moore

Gr.

F F

5-11 Pembroke, MA

Fr.

5-11 East Stroudsburg, PA

Head Coach: Marc Mitchell (Kean ’00) – 3 rd Season Assistant Coaches: Quiana Porter (Saint Peter’s ’12) – 3 rd Season, James Boney (Montclair State ’99) – 3 rd Season, Jessica Cavaco (Kean ’10) – 3 rd Season Director of Player Development/Coaches Consultant: Michael Williams, 1 st Season Managers: Jada Jaffe, 1 st Season, Frances Rivera, 1 st Season

HEAD COACH MARC MITCHELL Marc Mitchell is in the midst of his third season as head coach of the Saint Peter’s University women’s basketball program. Mitchell’s second season saw a number of highlights in what ultimately was another important foundational year for what promises to be an incredible future. While the Peacocks earned a ninth-place Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) regular season finish after securing the most wins by the program in nearly a decade (9), it is how those wins transpired and against whom they came against that truly shows the level of improvement from his inaugural campaign to the next. Mitchell guided the Peacocks to an upset victory over previously undefeated and eventual league champion Rider squad, as well as other notable home wins against Fairfield and Iona. Mitchell arrived in Jersey City after spending the previous nine years at FDU-Florham (DIII), where he became the program’s all-time winningest coach. The Devils claimed an unprecedented six straight conference titles and won the 2014 national championship as part of six straight NCAA Division III tournament appearances. During the six-year run, Mitchell’s teams won 20 or more games in every season.

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@SPUATHLETICS @PEACOCKSMBB @PEACOCKSWBB

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