Kate (Pierangeli) Pearson begins her 14th season as the Cabrini women's basketball head coach in 2022-23. Pearson took over leadership of the women’s basketball program in July 2009 following five seasons as an assistant coach with the Cavaliers. Pearson added the title of Assistant Director of Athletics in July 2019.
With a strong focus on stingy defense and overall effort, Pearson has established Cabrini as a perennial regional power. In her 13 years at the helm, the Blue and White have gone 226-111, a winning percentage of .670, including a trio of 24 win seasons and a program and CSAC record 26 wins in 2017-18.
Pearson and the Cavaliers claimed the program's first ECAC championship in 2019-20, as the Cavaliers scored a 75-43 win over Drew. The win capped a 22-8 season, one that included a 10-2 mark in Atlantic East action and the Blue and White's eighth consecutive conference championship game appearance.
Pearson led the program into the record books in 2017-18, as the club rode a 24-game win streak into the NCAA Tournament. Following back-to-back losses early in the campaign, Cabrini posted a perfect 16-0 conference record. The team went on to claim its ninth CSAC title with a 71-64 win over Neumann before topping Brooklyn 65-52 for the program's second NCAA Tournament victory. Pearson also garnered her third Coach of the Year accolade, as she was also named the recipient of the award in the 2012-13 season and 2014-15 season.
Pearson and the Cavaliers etched their names in the CSAC record books in 2016, becoming the first women's basketball team in conference history to claim four consecutive conference championships. Cabrini's 74-64 victory over Neumann marked the program's fourth straight title and eighth in program history.
Pearson continues to establish the Cavaliers as one of the region's top program's, after leading Cabrini to its third consecutive CSAC title in 2014-15. Pearson earned her second CSAC Coach of the Year accolade in 2015 after leading the Blue and White to its third consecutive 24-win season and the program's first ever Top 25 ranking.
The Cavaliers ranked in the top 20 of seven NCAA statistical categories, including 10th in scoring defense (50.2), 11th in scoring margin (20.1) and 12th in rebounding margin (12.1). Senior Amber Keys joined Brittany Sandone with CSAC Player of the Year and All-American honors. Fellow senior Megan Decker was also named CSAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Year and was one of the CSAC's two nominees for NCAA Woman of the Year.
Pearson led the Blue and White to one of the best seasons in program history in 2013-14, as it captured its second consecutive CSAC championship. The Cavaliers won the program's first ever NCAA Tournament game before finishing the season 24-5, including 15-1 in the CSAC.
Cabrini ranked in the nation's top 30 in seven statistical categories, including 12th in scoring defense, allowing just 52.6 points per game, while outscoring its opponents by 17.1 points per game, good for 15th in Division III. Senior Brittany Sandone was named CSAC Player of the Year and became the program's first All-American since Melissa Posse in 1998.
Pearson claimed 2013 CSAC Coach of the Year honors as she led the Cavaliers to one of the best seasons in program history. The Blue and White posted an overall record of 24-4, tied for most wins in program history. The team used a school record 19-game win streak to win its sixth conference title.
The team established itself as one of the best defensive and rebounding in the nation in 2012-13. The Cavaliers ranked third in the country in rebound margin and three point defense, while listing seventh in the country in scoring defense.
In 2008-09, Pearson helped guide Cabrini to its second consecutive CSAC crown and trip to the NCAA Tournament under head coach Bernadette Laukaitis. The Cavaliers claimed the conference regular season title for the first time since the 1996-97 campaign.
Pearson mentored the Blue & White to a 15-11 overall finish and 10-4 CSAC mark in 2009-10. The Cavaliers earned the No. 3 seed for the postseason tournament.
Under Pearson's tutelage, seniors Alyssa Brady and Deana DiAmico claimed CSAC First Team honors. DiAmico netted the 1,000th point of her Cabrini career during the regular season.
Pearson inherited a Cavaliers team that captured two consecutive Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) titles and advanced to two straight NCAA Tournaments.
Pearson joined the Cabrini sidelines in 2004-05 as an assistant to head coach Bobbi Morgan. In four seasons alongside Morgan, the Cavaliers posted a 66-41 overall record, captured one CSAC championship, advanced to one NCAA Tournament and appeared in two conference title games.
Pearson played four seasons at perennial Division III power Scranton under legendary head coach Mike Strong. With Pearson in the backcourt, the Lady Royals owned a 95-18 record, captured two Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) titles and appeared in three NCAA Tournaments.
Pearson was inducted into the University of Scranton Wall of Fame in 2014 after a career that included two Kodak All-America honors and three MAC First Team awards. She lists first all-time in program history in career three-point field goals made (181) and attempted (551). Pearson also ranks fifth all-time in assists (427), sixth in steals (263) and ninth in free-throw percentage (.742). She lists 15th all-time, scoring 1,292 career points.
Pearson drained a program-record 58 three-point field goals in 2002-03. She led the Lady Royals in scoring and assists in each of her final three seasons from 2001-2004.
Pearson was also a three-year letterwinner with the women’s lacrosse team at Scranton, winning two MAC crowns and appearing in two NCAA Tournaments. She was a three-time MAC First Team honoree. Pearson was named the Tom O’Hara Award recipient in 2004 as the school’s top female athlete.
Pearson’s ties to Cabrini extend well before her first season as an assistant coach with the women’s basketball team in 2004-05. Her mother, Dianne, coached the Cavalier women’s soccer team for nine seasons from 1993-2001.
Pearson graduated from Scranton in 2004 with a bachelor of arts degree in communication and earned a master’s degree in secondary education English at Cabrini.
Kate, her husband, Mike, and their daughters, Kylie and Danielle, reside in West Chester, PA.
