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The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Its current 11 full members are located in four Northeastern states: Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Maryland. It was announced on October 23, 2023 that Sacred Heart University and Merrimack College will join the conference beginning in the 2024-25 season.
Sacred Heart University (SHU) is a private, Roman Catholic university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded in 1963 by Walter W. Curtis, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Sacred Heart was the first Catholic university in the United States to be staffed by the laity.
Luigi "Geno" Auriemma is an Italian-born American college basketball coach and, since 1985, the head coach of the University of Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team. As of 2021, he has led UConn to 17 undefeated conference seasons, of which six were undefeated overall seasons, with 11 NCAA Division I national championships, the most in women's college basketball history, and has won eight national Naismith College Coach of the Year awards. Auriemma was the head coach of the United States women's national basketball team from 2009 through 2016, during which time his teams won the 2010 and 2014 World Championships, and gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics, going undefeated in all four tournaments. Auriemma was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
Total Mortgage Arena is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena in downtown Bridgeport, Connecticut. It is the home venue of the Bridgeport Islanders of the American Hockey League (AHL) and PWHL New York of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL).
Anne Theresa Donovan was an American women's basketball player and coach. From 2013 to 2015, she was the head coach of the Connecticut Sun.
Jennifer Marie Rizzotti is a retired American collegiate and professional basketball player, and former Division I coach at George Washington University. She is the president of the Connecticut Sun. Rizzotti was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
Shea Sydney Ralph is a former collegiate basketball player and current head coach for the Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team. She was previously an assistant coach at UConn from 2008 to 2021. Ralph was proficient in multiple sports, set state high school records in basketball, and earned multiple national player of the year awards in high school and college. She helped win a national championship as a player at the University of Connecticut in 2000 and won numerous individual awards, including the Sports Illustrated for Women Player of the Year and the Honda Sports Award for the best collegiate female athlete in basketball. She suffered five ACL injuries in her career, two of which led to sitting out the 1997–98 season. Ralph was drafted by the WNBA Utah Starzz, but recurring knee problems prevented her from embarking on a professional career. Ralph started her coaching career as an assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh in 2003.
The Sacred Heart Pioneers are the 32 sports teams representing Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut in intercollegiate athletics. The Pioneers compete in the NCAA Division I and are members of the Northeast Conference, Atlantic Hockey, Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association, and New England Women's Hockey Alliance.
Tina Alexandria Charles is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Originally from Jamaica, Queens, New York City, Charles was drafted first overall in the 2010 WNBA draft by the Connecticut Sun. In 2009 and 2010, she and teammate Maya Moore led the Connecticut Huskies to two undefeated national championships. She has won three Olympic gold medals with Team USA.
The 2010–11 Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team represented the University of Connecticut in the 2010–2011 NCAA Division I basketball season. The Huskies were coached by Geno Auriemma, and played their home games at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut, and on campus at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut. The Huskies are a member of the Big East Conference and attempted to win their eighth NCAA championship. The UConn team had won the last two national championships, and extended a win streak to an NCAA record 90 consecutive games.
The Sacred Heart Pioneers men's basketball team represents Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Northeast Conference. They play their home games at the William H. Pitt Center. During their time as members of the NCAA Division II, they were national champions in 1986.
Jill Hutchison is an American retired women's basketball coach, having served as head coach for 28 seasons at Illinois State. Hutchison also served as the first president of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. She was active in USA Basketball, serving as the head coach of the gold medal-winning team representing the US at the World University Games in 1983. Hutchison was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.
The Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Coach of the Year is a basketball award given to head coaches in the Northeast Conference (NEC). The award is granted to the head coach voted to be the most successful that season by the league's coaches. The award is named in honor of Brenda Reilly, a teacher, sports administrator and three-sport coach in a career of almost three decades at Central Connecticut State University.
The Sacred Heart Pioneers women's basketball team represents Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Northeast Conference. They play their home games at the William H. Pitt Center.
Abbie Ives is an American ice hockey goaltender who most recently played with the Connecticut Whale of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). She is currently an assistant coach for the Sacred Heart Pioneers women's ice hockey team.
The 2022–23 Sacred Heart Pioneers men's basketball team represented Sacred Heart University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Pioneers, led by tenth-year head coach Anthony Latina, played their home games at the William H. Pitt Center in Fairfield, Connecticut as members of the Northeast Conference.
Patrick John Myers Egan is an American baseball coach and former pitcher, who is the current head baseball coach of the Sacred Heart Pioneers. He played college baseball at Quinnipiac from 2003 to 2007. He played professionally from 2007 to 2013.
The 2022–23 Sacred Heart Pioneers women's basketball team represented the Sacred Heart University during the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Pioneers, led by tenth-year head coach Jessica Mannetti, played their home games at the William H. Pitt Center in Fairfield, Connecticut as members of the Northeast Conference.
The 2023–24 Sacred Heart Pioneers women's basketball team represented Sacred Heart University (SHU) during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Pioneers, led by 11th-year head coach Jessica Mannetti, played their home games at the William H. Pitt Center in Fairfield, Connecticut as members of the Northeast Conference (NEC).
Alaura Sharp is an American college basketball coach and is the current head coach of the Appalachian State Mountaineers women's basketball team. She previously served as the head coach of the Presbyterian Blue Hose women's basketball team from 2018 to 2024. At Presbyterian, she led her team to their first ever NCAA Tournament and their first ever NCAA tournament win when they beat the Sacred Heart Pioneers 49–42 in a First Four matchup.
References
- ↑ "Fairfield's Sacred Heart Names New Head Women's Basketball Coach". dailyvoice.com. 26 June 2013. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
