SUNY COBLESKILL WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ANNOUNCES WATERVLIET’S
PIERSON SIGNS NJCAA NATIONAL LETTER OF INTENT

The SUNY Cobleskill Athletic Department announced today that Watervliet High School women’s basketball standout Shelley Pierson has signed National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Letters of Intent to compete for the Fighting Tigers beginning in the fall of 2007. The talented center/power forward helped lead the Cannoneers to the Colonial Council and Section II Class B Championships on their way to the semifinals of the 2007 New York High School High School Basketball Class B State Championship Tournament compiling a 23-2 overall record including a 15-1 mark in conference play.

“We’re excited to have Shelley on board for next year because she is going to be an integral part of what we do offensively and defensively,” Said Fighting Tiger Head Coach Josh Suttles. “She is a game changing type of player, exactly the type of player that we’ve been searching for my entire time here. With her size and quickness she is going to be counted on to be an inside scoring threat as well as someone who can control the paint area in terms of her rebounding and shot blocking ability.”

During the season the 6’3” post player averaged 12.5 points, 13.1 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 2.7 blocked shots per game in 25 appearances during the season while shooting a very impressive 54.0% from the field on her way to being named: New York State Sportswriter’s Association Class B First Team honoree, The Section II Class B Girls Tournament Most Valuable Player, The Colonial Council Most Valuable Player, The Troy Record Player-of-the-Year, Times Union Small-School Player-of-the-Year.      

This season SUNY Cobleskill posted a 22-7 overall record advancing to the Quarterfinals of the 2007 NJCAA Region III Division III Tournament. During Head Coach Josh Suttles tenure at the helm; the program has posted: an 81-31 overall record, 72.3 % winning percentage, recorded three consecutive twenty-win seasons while making three consecutive NJCAA Region III Division III Tournament appearances. During this time Fighting Tiger players have individually earned: nine All-Mountain Valley Conference Team selections, six NJCAA All-Region III Division III Team awards, three NJCAA Academic All-American honors and two NJCAA Division III All-American honorees.