The Mount Vernon Nazarene University women’s basketball team begins its 2021-22 campaign on Friday, Oct. 22, as the Lady Cougars travel to Lawrence Tech University in Southfield, Mich., and the season is filled with promise, as the Crossroads League preseason women’s basketball poll projects MVNU to finish fourth in the conference, behind Marian University, Indiana Wesleyan University and Taylor University.
Last season, the Lady Cougars had a historic season as they made it to the NAIA National Tournament Sweet 16 before falling to top-seeded Thomas More University. Coach Amanda Short will try to replicate last season’s success and add to it in the upcoming season.
Three MVNU players were also recognized as members of the Preseason All-Crossroads League Team. Junior Maggie Coe was selected onto the Preseason All-Crossroads First Team, while teammates Rylee Pireu (Junior) and Sage Brannon (Senior) were selected onto the Second Team and as an Honorable Mention, respectively.
Coe, who battled a foot injury for the first half of the 2020-21 season, averaged 10.6 points and 2.9 rebounds. Pireu had a breakout sophomore season as she averaged 14.7 points on 39% shooting from the field and 37.9% shooting from three.
Brannon averaged 9.4 points per game in 2020-21 on 42% shooting from the field. Brannon had a huge string of breakout performances in the team’s National Tournament run and will look to build off of that as the team’s point guard in 2021-22.
The Lady Cougars will miss All-American forward Taylor Gregory this season (graduation), but Short will bring in three new faces in the form of freshmen Emily Walker, Grace Vermilya and Katie Sprang. In addition, redshirt freshman Emma Brown will hope to make a big impact in her rookie season. She and the Lady Cougars will get their chance Friday in the season opener against Lawrence Tech.
