MAAC_Program_2026_V11_Pages

2025–26 MERRIMACK WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

QUICK FACTS LOCATION NORTH ANDOVER, MA NICKNAME WARRIORS COLORS BLUE AND GOLD YEAR FOUNDED 1947 PRESIDENT DR. CHRISTOPHER E. HOPEY ATHLETIC DIRECTOR JOE FOLEY HOME COURT LAWLER ARENA (2,500)

WOMEN’S ROSTER

No.

Name

Cl.

Pos. Ht.

Hometown/High School/Previous School

0 Madison Roman

Jr.

F

6-0 Fairfield, CT/Fairfield Ludlowe High School

1 Joi Williams

Fr.

G 5-5 Alliance, OH/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy

2 Daria Shishkina 3 Makayla Thomas

So.

G 5-11 Moscow, Russia/Spire Academy

Jr. G 5-7 Brooklyn, NY/South Shore High School/Niagara County Community College

4 Denae Skelton

So. So.

G 5-7 West Kelowna, BC/Champlain College St. Lambert/Utah State

5 Mia Fiore

G 5-10 Narragansett, RI/St. George's

10 Paloma Garcia

Jr.

G 5-6 Corozal, Puerto Rico/Proctor Academy

11 Oralye Kiefer

Gr.

F F

6-3 Wayland, MA/Beaver Country Day School/Northeastern

12 Claudia Gallegos

Sr.

6-2 Naperville, IL/Neuqua Valley/University of Southern Indiana

15 Se'Lah Reddick

Sr. G 5-8 Jacksonville, FL/William M. Raines High School/Santa Fe College/Flagler

PLAYER TO WATCH Two time MAAC Player of the Week winner Madison Roman leads the team in points scored, rebounds, assists, free throws and minutes through 16 games. Averaging 11 ppg Roman has led the Warriors to a strong start in conference play this season. The junior is currently riding a six game double-double streak. In that time, the Warriors are 5-1 and top three in the MAAC. Roman has put up over 20 points in four games this season including a career high 26 point outing against Bryant in November. Roman kicked off the new year with a come from behind victory against Saint Peter’s where she led the Warriors scoring 21 and came down with 17 rebounds. NOTABLE ALUMNI Joelle Martin ended her career as a two-time All American, leading the program to its only two Final Four appearances in school history. She finished her time on campus with 2,038 points, the most in school annals, and the lone player to reach the 2,000-point threshold. That point total also ranks seventh in NE-10 history, while her 314 steals are the second-most at Merrimack and 11th-highest in league history. Martin guided the Navy and Gold to three NCAA Tournaments, the only three times that the program has reached the Big Dance. After helping the team qualify for its first-ever NCAA Tournament in 2002-03, Martin and Merrimack won back-to-back regional titles in 2003-04 and 2004-05, reaching the Final Four in each campaign. Following the conclusion of her playing days in North Andover, Martin played professionally in Europe for over six years; she enjoyed her first stint of professional basketball in Holland before moving to Italy, where she won three championships with two different teams as part of a five-year pro campaign.

21 Cadence Johnson Jr. 22 Lydia Melaschenko Sr.

F

6-0 Mattapoisett, MA/St. Andrew's School

G 5-7 Ottawa, ON/Capital Courts Academy

24 Molly Manion 30 Kristen Kelley

Gr.

G 5-11 West Chester, PA/West Chester Henderson

So.

G 6-1 Amherst, OH/Marion L. Steele

32 Kylee Fears

R-So. F

6-1 Oxford, OH/Talawanda High School

Head Coach: Kelly Morrone (South Carolina ’03) Assistant Coaches: Victoria Lux (Bentley ’19), Paige McCormick (Merrimack ’22), Didier Dinh (Salem State ’12), Claudio Buratti (John Cabot University)

HEAD COACH KELLY MORRONE Since her hire as the head coach at Merrimack, Morrone has achieved numerous great feats. She has helped ease the program through the transition period from Division two to Division one and has seen success at the next level. Morrone has 40 division one wins as the head coach of Merrimack entering her fifth year. She was able to guide the Warriors to a combined 18-14 conference record throughout the past two seasons, earning a third and fourth place finish respectively in the NEC. She has oversaw back to back NEC semifinal appearances from her team to close out their time as a member of the Northeast Conference. Her team was able to win the first postseason game in the Division one era in 2022-23. Morrone mastered an 8 game winning streak that was the longest such streak in almost two decades. She has continuously improved this team, molding All Conference players, manufacturing wins and instilling a culture into the program. In 2021-22 they were top 100 in pace per possession, 64 th in 3PT field goal % at 33.3, and top 75 in offensive rebounds per game.

2026 | AIR FORCE RESERVE MAAC MEN’S & WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS 71