NEWTOWN, Pa. – Basketball season is right around the corner and on Thursday morning the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) released their annual Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Lions were selected fourth in the poll tied with Alvernia.
FULL COACHES' POLL RESULTS
Messiah was selected to finish first receiving five first place votes after winning the Commonwealth last year. Widener was picked second receiving the remaining three first place votes. York rounds out the top three with Albright and Alvernia tying for fourth. Stevenson, Hood and Eastern were selected to finish sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
The sideline will look different this year as the winningest coach in program history Janice Luck announced her resignation after 23 years in charge of the program in April of 2025.
Alyssa Parsons was named the ninth head coach in school history on May 27, 2025. Coach Parsons has spent time coaching at Division I and III levels. While at Stevens Institute of Technology Parsons helped the Ducks to a 36-18 record during her two seasons with the team, including an NCAA Tournament berth following the 2022-23 season.
Parsons most recent coaching stop came at her alma mater in Rider University. After a four-year playing career at the University, Parsons returned as an assistant coach in 2024-25. In four years playing for Rider, Parsons appeared in 78 career games while serving as a team captain for three of those seasons. Joining Parsons on the coaching staff is Shawn Barczynski '14 who will be in her eight season as coach after a four-year playing career with the Lions.
Returning starters for the Lions in 2025-26 include
Orianna Edmond,
CJ Apistar,
Kenedy Cooper and
Julia Zakovitch. The quartet combined to start 97 games with each one starting 24 games or more. Additionally, all four ranked inside the top six on the team in 2024-25 in points per game average.
Albright qualified for the postseason last season marking the third time since the turn of the decade that the Lions have been in the MAC Commonwealth Championships.
Aaliyah Burton,
Gigi Serrano,
Devon Sonzogni,
Ciarra Gibbs,
Julia Parmelee,
Haley Davis and
Natalie Hoffman are all set to return to the court for Albright. Three new faces will join the team in the forms of
Nique Reynolds,
Camille McCaskell and
Mara Johnson.
Albright will open the 2025-26 season on the road at Montclair State University on Friday, November 7. In total the team will play 11 non-conference games including two tournaments at Westfield State and Roanoke.
Conference play will begin on Wednesday January 9. The Lions will play each MAC Commonwealth member institution twice with one home and away game.
