Sam Pirosko PSAC 75 Greatest Female Athletes

Women's Basketball Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Pirosko Named to PSAC 75th Anniversary 75 Greatest Female Athletes

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The 2025-26 season marks the 75th season for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. The PSAC is commemorating the occasion by honoring 300 of its most prominent contributors throughout the month of September.

The first group of 75 honorees were recently announced -- the "Made in the PSAC", a group that recognized former student-athletes that have gone on to influential careers after graduation (which could be in the sports industry, but not necessarily as a professional athlete.)

Today PSAC Commissioner Steve Murray announced the second grouping -- the PSAC's 75 Greatest Female Athletes. The group recognizes former female student-athletes that had exceptional athletic careers during or after their participation in the PSAC.

Included in the PSAC's 75 Greatest Female Athletes is Gannon's Samantha Pirosko, one of the greatest basketball players to take the court in the annals of the conference. Pirosko's name is scattered throughout the PSAC record and extremely prominent in Gannon's. She concluded her career ranked second at Gannon and third in the PSAC in career points with 2,293.

"While the path for women in college athletics was not always paved equally, the women of the PSAC have more than made their mark," said Steve Murray, PSAC Commissioner. "They've redefined what's possible. From the early trailblazers to today's champions, these 75 greatest female athletes represent courage, excellence, and the relentless pursuit of opportunity. Their achievements speak not only to talent, but to the progress Title IX helped make possible and the power of sport to transform lives."

Pirosko's legacy is one of excellence both on the court and in the classroom. While playing for the Golden Knights from 2018-24 she was a three-time WBCA Division II All-American, a two-time PSAC West Athlete of the Year, a 2024 NCAA Woman of Year finalist, the 2024 WBCA Player of the Year, and the 2024 D2CCA Ron Lenz Player of the Year.  She was also a three-time first team All-PSAC West honoree.

Her academic accomplishments included 2024 PSAC Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year, 2024 CSC Women's Basketball Academic All-America Team Member of the Year, and a two-time first team CSC Academic All-American. She was recognized as Gannon's 2024 Senior Female Athlete of the Year and capped her accolades as a 2024 NCAA Woman of the Year finalist, one of the NCAA's most prestigious awards.

Possibly above all that – Pirosko was a winner! During her time as a Golden Knight Gannon posted a 140-39 record. That included three PSAC Championships (2020, 2022, 2024), four trips to the NCAA Div. II Tournament (2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024) and an appearance in the Elite Eight in 2024.

The 5-foot-10 post player from Eastlake, Ohio, was a consensus First-Team All-American in 2023-24 and was honored as the WBCA Division II Player of the Year and the D2CCA Ron Lenz National Player of the Year.

The College Sports Communicators honored her as the Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year for women's basketball and later granted Pirosko the same honor for all Division II sports. In addition, the Collegiate Women Sports Awards selected her as the basketball finalist for the DII Honda Athlete of the Year award. The PSAC honored her as the Pete Nevins Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year as she became the first Gannon female student-athlete to claim the elite award.

Pirosko served as team captain and led the 2023-24 Golden Knights to a 35-3 record while helping the team reach the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. She led Gannon to a PSAC West regular-season title, a PSAC Tournament championship, and an NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional title. She repeated as the PSAC West Athlete of the Year and was selected as the PSAC Tournament MVP and Atlantic Regional MVP.

Pirosko led Gannon with averages of 19.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. She averaged 25.4 points per game during the postseason, which included games of 40 points and 19 rebounds, and 32 points in the PSAC Tournament, 34 points in the Atlantic Regional, and 26 points in the national quarterfinals. In addition to ranking second on Gannon's all-time scoring list with 2,293 points, she broke her own record for points in a season with 752 in 2023-24.

After scoring 172 points in her first two seasons in 29 games, Pirosko emerged as a standout in the 2020-21 COVID season. She averaged 15.0 ppg. and 6.0 rpg. that season followed by averages of 16.2 ppg. and 6.0 rpg. in 2021-22.

Pirosko owns the top two season scoring figures at Gannon with 752 points in 2023-24 and 693 points (20.4 ppg.) in 2022-23.

As a student, Pirosko posted a 3.908 cumulative grade-point average as a Health Sciences Physician Assistant major. In addition, she earned four minors in Nutrition, Biology, Psychology, and Business. She is completing work on her master's degree from Gannon in Physician Assistant Science and will take her boards next week. She will begin work with the hospitalist team at Ahuja in Beachwood, Ohio in November.

Pirosko either led or participated in many community service projects during her Gannon career. Just a few of those were the SERVE Project with Erie Catholic Schools that produced blankets to give back to the LINUS project, multiple food drives, and a letter writing campaign that involved sending Valentine's Day cards to veterans in Erie County.

Pirosko was named the 2024 Gannon Female Student-Athlete of the Year and was the female recipient of the Doc Beyer Award, which honors student-athletes for excellence in athletics, academics, service, and leadership.

ABOUT THE PSAC: The PSAC was founded on March 11, 1951, and comprised 14 institutions as the Pennsylvania State Teachers College Athletic Conference (PSTCAC). Since then, it has grown into one of the largest conferences in the NCAA across all three divisions.

The 75th anniversary celebration continues with the release of the 75 Greatest Male Athletes on September 17 and "Distinguished Keystones" on September 24.
 
 
 
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