>Opponent:
Salem vs. Montreat | Hickory, N.C. | Lenoir-Rhyne | 2 p.m. | November 9
>SALEM BASKETBALL BEGINS NEW REGIME UNDER DAWSON
The Salem basketball team begins its first season under the direction of head coach Danielle Dawson. The Spirits are looking to replace four starters from a season ago.
>SEASON OPENER SET TO TAKE PLACE AT LENOIR-RHYNE
Due to the devastation from Hurricane Helene, Montreat College agreed to play the Spirits at Lenoir-Rhyne.
>DAWSON NAMED SIXTH COACH IN SALEM HISTORY
In early September, Salem Director of Athletics, Michael Williams, completed the program's national search for a basketball coach when he named Danielle Dawson as the sixth head coach in program history.
Dawson takes over at Salem College after spending the last two seasons at Shaw University, taking over for Sharee Boyd, who departed for Francis Marion. In 2023-24, Boyd led the Spirits to eight wins, the most since the 2017-18 season under then head coach Britni Mohney, who won 10 games.
Dawson brings a wealth of experience to the Salem, serving as an assistant coach at four NCAA Division I programs (Monmouth, N.C. A&T, Delaware State, Radford) during that span. She also worked at NCAA Division II institutions, including Valdosta State, Virginia Union and most recently Shaw.
Dawson's contributions as assistant Coach at Shaw resulted in 42 victories for the Bears over a three-year stretch. After winning 10 games in her first season in Raleigh, N.C., including seven against CIAA opposition, the 2022-23 unit closed with an 18-14 overall mark and an 8-8 record in league contests. Four of those victories came from November 20-December 2, as the Bears downed Kentucky State, USC Aiken, Barton and Virginia-Lynchburg in succession. Shaw caught fire to close the season by winning seven of its final nine games, including three straight in the CIAA Tournament, resulting in triumphs over Claflin, Winston-Salem State, Lincoln (Pa.) before Elizabeth City State ended the run with a 55-40 victory in the CIAA Championship.
Her final season at Shaw resulted in a 14-15 record, which included eight wins in CIAA play, and an opening round victory in the league tournament versus Virginia Union (65-64). The best stretch for the Bears came in late November as they took down Mid-Atlantic Christian, Carolina University, Clinton and Morris in succession. The victory over Mid-Atlantic Christian came by a decisive 106-32 margin in Raleigh.
Prior to Shaw, Dawson spent one season at Virginia Union (2019-20) after spending one season each as the head coach for the Alabama Heat AAU program (2017-18), Team Loaded AAU Team (2016-17) and as the Woodside (Va.) High School boys' basketball coach (2015-16).
Dawson also had a series of one-year stints coaching basketball with the Virgin Island Senior Women's National Team (2014) and Radford (2012-13). While in the Virgin Islands, Dawson helped her team capture the Caribbean Basketball Confederation's bronze medal and qualify for the 2015 FIBA America's Championship.
>SALEM PICKED NINTH IN PRESEASON USA SOUTH CONFERENCE POLLS
Southern Virginia was placed atop the rankings thanks to receiving 63 total points and seven of the possible nine first place votes. The Knights posted a 17-1 regular season League record last season which earned a co-regular season championship. SVU would go on to sweep through the USA South Tournament to earn the title for the second time in program history.
The team sharing the regular season crown with the Knights was Methodist who placed second in this year's preseason poll with 55 points and one first place vote while N.C. Wesleyan earned 49 points to appear third. Brevard rounded out the top-four of the poll with 47 points and the final remaining first place vote.
Pfeiffer garnered 33 votes from the USA South Conference coaches and was predicted to finish fifth, while Meredith is sixth. Greensboro and William Peace, who had 19 votes apiece, were picked in a seventh-place tie. Salem was predicted ninth by the pollsters with 12 points.
The 2025 USA South Women's Basketball Tournament will once again be conducted exclusively on campus sites. The top-eight seeded teams will advance to postseason play which will begin with first round action on Tuesday, February 25. The semifinals will take place Thursday, February 27 with the finals occurring on Saturday, March 1. The higher-seeded team in each contest will serve as the host of that particular game.
>DAWSON ADDS RAE'LYN MORGAN-PEGUES AS ASSISTANT COACH
Rae'Lyn Morgan-Pegues joined Danielle Dawson's staff at Salem College prior to the start of the 2024-25 season. Morgan-Pegues had previously served as the head coach of the varsity girls' basketball program at Piedmont Classical High School in nearby Greensboro, N.C.
Morgan-Pegues had served as the head coach of the Bobcats since July 2021, implementing practice and training programs while developing individual and team skills along the way. She also served as a rhetoric and physical education teacher at Piedmont Classical High School in the same time span.
Morgan-Pegues began her coaching career at Hairston Middle School in Greensboro, where she spent four years. Along with serving as the head coach of the team, Morgan-Pegues was also an Interim Athletic Director and theatre teacher.
Morgan-Pegues got her start in collegiate athletics while earning her master of science in adult education at N.C. A&T State University. She was able to work directly with the Aggies' program as an intern to the Director of Athletics. In that capacity, Morgan-Pegues assisted with administrative tasks, executed the planning of athletic events and coordinated venue setup and transportation. She also took a role in assisting and implementing marketing programs for athletics, supported fundraising efforts with donors and held various departments within the university achieve project goals.
Morgan-Pegues also attended Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C., where she earned her bachelor of science in performing arts in December 2014.
>BREAKING DOWN THE SPIRITS ROSTER IN 2024-25
New Salem head coach Danielle Dawson opens the season with six returners from a season ago, including Cristina Battistini, Nykerah Engle, Cree Bass, Anayah Noell, Lily Gorum and Triana Smallwood. Four of those individuals, Bass being the exception, are sophomores for the program.
Dawson will also welcome the additions of six newcomers to the program, which include Amy Pedroza, Maleah Flagler, Chais White, Jade Ware, Javien Williams and Nicole Hester. White, who is a sophomore at Salem, did not play on the team last season. Pedroza is also a sophomore, who transferred from nearby Greensboro College, but did not compete in any games for The Pride in 2023-24.
Flagler comes to Salem from Ocala, Florida, where she attended Forest High School. Ware is also a native of the Sunshine State, hailing from Port St. Lucie, where she attended Treasure Coast High School. Williams and Hester are both Triad natives who joined the Salem basketball program from High Point and Burlington, respectively.
>ENGLE TOP RETURNING SCORER IN SALEM LINEUP FROM 2023-24
The Spirits lost their top two scorers—Dionne Sampson (411 points) and Alize Munn (202)—from the 2023-24 unit and will look to Nykerah Engle to fill the void of the loss.
Engle, a sophomore from Charlotte, N.C., closed with the third-most points (187) of any Salem scorer in 2023-24, hitting 60-of-168 from the floor and 67-of-95 (.705) at the free throw line. She was also active on the glass with 85 rebounds, including 58 on the defensive boards. Engle had the third-most assists (44) and was one of the best defensive players on the unit with 72 steals.
Engle reached double-digit scoring on seven occasions, including a single-game season-high 15 in a clash with Greensboro on January 27, 2024. She converted 11-of-12 at the free throw line and drove home two shots from the field to close with 15.
>BASS RETURN GIVES SALEM LEADERSHIP, ADDITIONAL SCORING OPTION
Another scoring option for Danielle Dawson in the 2024-25 campaign will be graduate senior Cree Bass. Bass was one of six players to top the 100-point mark last season, closing with 179 points on the season.
In 2023-24, Bass converted 62-of-216 shots from the field and 39-of-144 from beyond the arc and will enter the 2024-25 season with 14th-most points (544) in program history. She has knocked down the fifth-most 3-pointers (93) in Salem history after attempting the fourth-most 3-point shots (335). Bass is one of six Spirits in history with at least 150 assists, entering the season with 150 assists.
Defensively, Bass has also been active, forcing 113 steals over the course of her career, seventh-most in Salem history. In 2023-24, she reached double figure scoring on nine occasions, including a pair of 16-point outings in back-to-back games with N.C. Wesleyan (Jan. 3) and Greensboro (Jan. 6).
>GORUM, HESTER PROVIDE PRESENCE IN THE PAINT
Sophomore Lily Gorum, the top returning rebounder on the unit from a season ago with 98 to her credit. Ti'Erra Lee led the way with 108, while Dionne Sampson climbed the glass for 107, leaving Gorum and Alize Munn tied for third-most with 98.
Gorum grabbed 63 of her 98 total rebounds on the defensive end for the Spirits. Along the way she contributed 55 points, hitting 18-of-70 from the floor and 19-of-29 (.655) at the free throw line.
Providing size on the roster alongside Gorum, who stands at 6-feet, will be Nicole Hester. Hester is a 5-foot-11 forward who is in her first season after playing at nearby Eastern Alamance.
>SCOUTING REPORT: MONTREAT CAVALIERS
Montreat began its 2024-25 campaign with a 65-56 setback to Carolina University on Thursday evening. The Cavaliers had three players reach double figures in scoring, including Virginia Edmondson, who tallied 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the floor.
Rymiah Sanders tallied 13 points in 26 minutes, finishing 4-of-11 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line for Montreat. Vaniyah Petty posted a double-double, climbing the glass for 12 rebounds, including eight defensive boards, while scoring 10 points.
>PLAYERS TO WATCH: The Montreat women's basketball team landed two returners and one newcomer on the 2024-25 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Women's Basketball Players to Watch List according to a release from the league office Friday afternoon. Virginia Edmondson, Rymiah Sanders and Maddie Ferrara all claimed the AAC nod for the first time in their careers.
Conference coaches could each submit up to three student-athletes who they anticipate having a noteworthy impact on their teams this season.
>CAVS PICKED EIGHTH IN PRESEASON: The Montreat women's basketball team was picked to finish eighth in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Women's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Poll according to a release from the league office.
In the poll, the Cavaliers totaled 104 points, just 10 fewer than Columbia College and eight more than Truett McConnell University. The University of Pikeville captured the most points (194) thanks to seven first-place selections during the voting process.
Last season, Montreat concluded the year with a 16-13 (13-9 AAC) record, which proved good enough for the No. 6 seed in the AAC Tournament. The Cavs' postseason journey ultimately ended in the quarterfinal round.
