Aug. 12, 2010

Bay State products Danielle DePierro (Tewksbury, MA), Lauren Fiola (Fall River, MA) and Justine King (Ware, MA) are among three of five members of the UMass Lowell women’s basketball freshman class, announced Head Coach Kathy O’Neil on Thursday.

DiPierro, Fiola and Ware join freshmen Alexandra Guidi (Derry, NH) and Dominique Pagan (Bronx, NY) in the Class of 2014, along with six veterans from the 2009-10 season.

O’Neil is also expecting several players to transfer to the program (to be announced at a later date), making for one of her largest incoming classes ever.

UMass Lowell is fresh of a solid 16-11 showing in 2009-10 and a 12-10 clip against Northeast-10 Conference foes, pitting it tied for sixth. The River Hawks also won a pair of tournament titles: the Yellow Jacket Holiday Classic at American International, where it defeated Concordia (84-45) and Wilmington (61-51); and its own Valley Cup Classic, in which it came away with wins over Caldwell (54-48) and Bloomfield (63-56).

“This is a big class with five freshmen and four transfers,” said O’Neil. “With so many new faces, you cannot be certain of what they will bring. However, we feel this group will be a nice addition to the UMass Lowell basketball family.

“They have the skill and the length to be productive basketball players,” she added. “Their basketball backgrounds provide them with the opportunity to have a positive impact on our program.”

DePierro joins the River Hawks following a stellar four-year career at Tewksbury Memorial H.S., where she earned Merrimack Valley Conference all-star honors three straight years and was named the MVC Division II Player of the Year. A 1,000-point scorer, DePierro also earned player of the year billing from The Sun, and was tabbed an all-scholastic standout by The Boston Herald.

Fiola, a 5-11 forward, was a four-year starter at B.M.C. Durfee H.S. where she earned a plethora of awards, including All-Big Three Conference status three times. Additionally, Fiola was named a three-time all-scholastic standout by The Herald News as well as a Boston Herald all-star as a senior, and capped her career with more than 1,000 points.

A 5-8 forward, Guidi comes to UMass Lowell fresh off a stellar career at Pinkerton Academy, where she amassed more than 1,000 points and 600 rebounds as a four-year starter.

Along the way, Guidi was named a Class L All-State standout four straight years, including first team honors as a senior, second team as a junior and sophomore, and honorable mention as a freshman.

King enjoyed a storied career at Ware H.S., where she was a four-year player and Pioneer Valley League and Western Mass all-star her sophomore through senior years. She compiled 1,221 career points and twice led the Indians to the MIAA Western Mass Tournament semifinal round.

Pagan comes to the University following a one-year stay at the Westtown School (Pa.) and two years at St. Anne’s –Belleville (Va.), the latter of which she helped lead to a pair of League of Independent Schools (LIS) titles. Pagan played her freshman season at Aquinas H.S. (N.Y.), which captured the state Class ‘B’ Federation title.

UMass Lowell opens the season at the AIC Tournament Nov. 13 and 14 against C.W. Post and Bloomfield. The River Hawks open at home on Nov. 17 against Saint Michael’s.