2024-25 Women's Basketball Preview

SALEM, Mass. -- Salem State women's basketball was picked to finish 4th in a vote by the league's six head coaches in the MASCAC Women's Basketball Pre-Season Poll, which was released on Thursday, October 31. Bridgewater State claimed four first place votes for 24 points, followed by Framingham State - 29 points (1-1st place vote), Westfield State - 19 points (1-1st place vote) and Salem State - 13 points. 

Head coach Ashley White will begin her fifth season after compiling a 13-14 record a year ago with a 5-7 conference mark and fourth place finish, which concluded with a trip to the conference semifinals. Salem State returns a deep and talented roster, which features the return of all-conference forward Liz Zaiter (Peabody, Mass.), who is back after missing the 2023-24 season with an injury. The 1,000th point-scorer will be joined by three former all-conference selections, highlighted by guard Kylie Gates (Pembroke, Mass.), who averaged a career-high 14.7 ppg a year-ago and was amongst the leaders in assists (170) and steals (86) in the MASCAC.  

Ernidia Goncalves (Everett, Mass.), the 2022-23 MASCAC Rookie of the Year, emerged as one of the top forwards in the MASCAC. Goncalves led the league with 17 double-doubles and 320 rebounds for 12.8 rpg average. Both marks set new all-time records for a single season in Salem State basketball history. The junior also finished in the top-five in scoring in the conference with a 16.8 per game average. Abuk Teng (Manchester, N.H.), who is an effective guard/small forward led the Vikings in scoring a year ago with a 17.0 ppg average, shooting 43.7% from the floor. The senior was also the team's second-leading rebounder (7.8 rpg).

Coach's Quote 

"Our expectation is to continue to improve from where we left off last year. We have great leaders who set the standards for our team.  Our goal is to be a top team in our conference. We have a lot more depth this year as well as experience. We have everyone returning from last year as well as some key additions."

2024-25 New Players to Watch 

Maria Orfanos (Lynn, Mass.) - junior transfer from Curry College who went to Bishop Fenwick and led her team to the Final Four in 2022.

Season Opener

Salem State opens the season at home against Emerson on Saturday, November 9th at 2:00 pm.  

2024-25 MASCAC Women's Basketball Pre-Season Poll