City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2025-26 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 4. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season, click here.)

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Philly hoops are represented throughout the country on Division I programs from coast to coast.

Each year, well over 100 Philly-area ballplayers are spread around Division I rosters, from East Coast to West Coast, North to South, low-major to high-major and everywhere in between. Each fall, CoBL rounds up all of those local prospects to update you on how their careers are going and what’s expected of them in the year to come.

We’ve split the area’s D-I alumnae into a three-part list, with all the representation being too big to run at once. Here’s Part 3 of our 2025-26 CoBL alumnae roundup, featuring 20 more players who are on scholarship on a Division I roster this season.

(If we’re missing someone, let us know: cityofbasketballlove@gmail.com)

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2025-26 Women's Alumni Roundup: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 

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Mackenzie Pettinelli (Soph. | St. Bonaventure)
Pettinelli jumped right into a big role at Bonaventure, the 5-10 guard and Spring-Ford alum starting the first game of her freshman season and going on to hear her name in the opening lineup 28 of 30 times on the year. She ended the season averaging 4.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg and 1.8 apg, going 31-of-75 (41.3%) from 3-point range, with her season high of 14 points coming in the season opener against Binghamton.

Janie Preston (Fr. | Army)
A four-year contributor at Conestoga, Preston’s development in the middle was a big reason the Pioneers made it to three straight PIAA 6A state tournaments. The 6-1 post has good touch around the rim and a developing face-up ability, but she’ll have to work for minutes on a deep West Point roster.

Joan Quinn (Soph. | La Salle)
Quinn earned All-Rookie honors in the Atlantic 10 last year, the Cardinal O’Hara product having a strong debut season after dealing with injuries her senior year of high school. A 5-9 guard, Quinn averaged 9.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 2.1 apg while starting 24 of 33 contests for the Explorers. Her season high was 23 points, which came against city rival St. Joe’s; she also scored 21 in a win over St. Bonaventure. 

Ava Renninger (Soph. | Fairleigh Dickinson)
Renninger had an impressive prep career at Archbishop Wood after moving to the Philadelphia area as a sophomore, and she wasted no time taking that right to FDU. The 2024-25 Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year, Renninger started 30 of 33 games, averaging 13.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg and 2.7 apg on .400/.330/.915 splits. A 5-6 guard, Renninger broke the 20-point barrier three times, with a season-high 28 points coming against Mercyhurst in February.

Molly Rullo (Fr. | Drexel)
Following in her parents’ footsteps by donning the Drexel blue and gold, Rullo comes to University City after a standout career at Cardinal O’Hara. The 5-11 wing won a PCL title (2022) and a PIAA title (2024) and finished as the second-leading scorer in O’Hara history. A tough inside finisher and quality outside shooter, Rullo was a four-time All-PCL selection and leaves quite a legacy in Springfield. 

Amya Scott (Fr. | Delaware State)
The other half of Neumann-Goretti’s dynamic backcourt the last four years, ‘Mouse’ teamed with Carryn Easley to lead the Saints to the PIAA Class 4A state championship as seniors, beating PCL foe Lansdale Catholic in the title game. A 5-5 guard who can play on and off the ball, Scott is a strong outside shooter, ball-handler and defender who plays with a lot of confidence. 

Sydni Scott (Sr. | Fairfield)
Scott missed a good chunk of her junior year, getting hurt in the season opener at Arkansas but returning in January and playing a key role off the bench as the Stags went 28-5 (19-1 MAAC) and won the MAAC title. The 5-8 guard from Cardinal O’Hara had her best game at the right time, going 6-for-6 from 3-point range as she scored 18 points in the MAAC championship win over Quinnipiac. For the season, she averaged 5.3 ppg and 1.9 rpg and hit 37.6% of her 3-pointers (35-of-93).

Abby Sharpe (Jr. | Penn)
One of the stars on Plymouth Whitemarsh’s unbeaten state championship squad in high school, Sharpe has played in 39 games in her first two years with the Quakers. Last year, in 19 appearances (9.3 mpg), the 6-foot-tall guard averaged 2.5 ppg on 42.5% from the floor, including a career-high 13-point game against Siena back in November.

Kaylene Smikle (Sr. | Maryland)
Ever since she got to college, the Westtown product has been quite productive. A 6-0 wing originally from New York, she’s averaged 17.6 ppg in 80 games (66 starts) between two years at Rutgers and one at Maryland, for whom she averaged 17.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg and 1.7 apg a year ago on .448/.347/.824 splits. A first-team All-Big Ten selection, she averaged north of 20 ppg in Maryland’s run to the Sweet 16, and scored a season-high 36 points against Washington in February.

Shayla Smith (Fr. | Penn State)
The high-scoring player in Philadelphia Public League history (2,690 points), Smith takes her act up to Happy Valley, where the 5-10 guard out of Audenried Charter will help try to turn around a team that went 10-19 (1-17 Big Ten) a year ago. Smith, who also collected 1,203 rebounds in high school, is a talented scorer from all three levels who also greatly improved her play-making abilities over her high school career.

Aleah Snead (Jr. | Saint Joseph’s)
Snead took a nice step forward in her second year with St. Joe’s, building on a few quality outings as a freshman to really become a key part of the rotation as a sophomore. In 34 games (six starts), the 5-11 wing out of Penn Charter averaged 6.4 ppg and 3.9 rpg while hitting 51.9% of her shots, going for a career high of 22 points in a win at Davidson. With a big 2025 class having graduated, she’ll be one of the veterans this year and likely in for another bump in production. 

Grace Sundback (Jr. | Delaware)
It’s been nearly two years since Sundback was last on the court, after the 5-10 guard and Westtown School product missed her sophomore year due to a leg injury. As a freshman, she started in 15 out of the 19 games she played in, averaging 5.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg and 1.9 apg, with four double-digit games and a season-high of 13 games.

Bella Toomey (Jr. | Fairleigh Dickinson)
Toomey’s played in 64 games in her first two seasons at FDU, including 33 games this past season. She averaged 2.4 ppg and 2.3 rpg in 11.5 mpg as a sophomore, all slight declines from her freshman season for the 5-10 wing forward out of Penn Charter. Her best game was an 11-point, seven-rebound outing against American. 

Kaiya Rain Tucker (Fr. | Siena)
Part of a deep and versatile Friends’ Central squad, Tucker is a versatile forward at 6-1 who can stretch the floor, put the ball on the ground and score around the hoop. A 1,000-point scorer who also collected 500 rebounds with the Phoenix, Rain Tucker can play the ‘4’ or ‘5’ and joins a program that’s coming off a 17-14 (14-6 MAAC) season.

Meliah Van-Otoo (Sr. | Loyola Maryland)
A Westtown School grad, Van-Otoo is going into her fourth year at Loyola (Md.), having been a contributor to the Greyhounds all three years. In 81 career games (16 starts), she’s averaged 3.7 ppg and 1.3 apg; last year, she averaged 3.9 ppg and 1.4 apg in 27 games (two starts), with a season high of 14 points, which she accomplished twice.

Khalis Whiting (Sr. | Stony Brook)
In three years thus far at Stony Brook, Whiting has appeared in 37 games, scoring a total of 29 points. She played in five games last year, averaging nine minutes per contest thanks to playing 26 minutes at Holy Cross in December.

Brooke Wilson (Soph. | Army)
One of two Wilson sisters that came out of Archbishop Carroll and went up to West Point, Brooke Wilson broke into the Black Knights’ rotation as a rookie. Appearing in all 33 games, the 5-9 guard and former Catholic League MVP averaged 2.6 ppg and 1.8 rpg while playing 12.4 mpg, with one double-digit game, scoring 11 points against Holy Cross in January.

Taylor Wilson (Jr. | Army)
Brooke’s older sister by a year, Taylor has played in 57 games in two years at West Point, appearing in 32 games with one start as a sophomore. Her numbers ticked up slightly to 3.2 ppg and 2.6 rpg this past year, including three double-digit games, topping off with 13 points against Saint Peter’s in November.

Cire Worley (Jr. | Norfolk State)
Worley’s at Norfolk State for her junior season after previously playing at UMass-Lowell as a freshman and then Coppin State as a sophomore, showing good growth between the two years. The 6-0 wing and former Abington standout averaged 6.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg and 1.3 apg in 34 games (13 starts) as a sophomore, on .410/.331/.695 splits. Her season high came with a 22-point, seven-rebound outing against Bryant in December.

Reese Zemitis (Soph. | Bucknell)
Zemitis certainly had a strong freshman year at Bucknell, averaging 9.6 ppg and 3.7 rpg while hitting 40.6% of her shots and 36.7% from 3-point range; that outside shooting number was tops in the Patriot League amongst all players in the league who hit at least two 3’s per game. The 6-0 forward out of Neshaminy got better as the year went on, averaging 10.8 ppg and 3.5 rpg in Patriot League play, earning a spot on the league’s all-freshman team.