Mount St. Dominic Girls Hoops Ingredients to Break Out in 25-26

Mount St. Dominic girls basketball head coach Brian Dorf knows what his team needs to do to take that next step up the ladder in the division, county and states.

The first stride is to improve on last season's mark of 12-15 in the 2024-25 season and then some when the season tips off on Dec. 16 at West Orange.
Part of the cure will be consistency, Dorf said, for the 25-26 edition of the Lions.
"To have a better season this year, we have to be a more consistent team," said Dorf. "Sharing the ball will be a vital part to our success and overall team defense."
The Mount St. Dominic head coach points to the combination of youth and athleticism on the floor this season as a key especially on offense.
"We have different personnel this year, so we are trying to play offensively with more pace and putting pressure on the rim," said Dorf who also added about defense. "On the other side of the ball, we will have to use our speed and athleticism to foster our team defense."
While there is an infusion of youth, Mount St. Dominic is led by two players who return this winter in junior Bella Iannitelli and sophomore Gia McArdle who both were named to the All Super Essex Conference American Division second team. The American is the top division in Essex County.
For this season it will be a different landscape for the SEC American Division. With the closing of Immaculate Conception in Montclair, two new teams are in the American in Caldwell and West Essex as Newark Academy moves down to the SEC Liberty Division. Immaculate Conception took home the SEC American title last season with the top teams returning including West Orange and Glen Ridge.
This season's version of the Lions will get a good idea where they stand in the county when they face West Orange in the opener. The Mountaineers are the defending Essex County Tournament title holders and bring back a good part of their 2024-25 squad. And Glen Ridge won 23 games last season and reached the Group 1 state title game. Another team, University, had reached the ECT finals for the last four out of five seasons including winning the 2020 county championship.
Along with Iannitelli and McArdle, the other returning players who saw time on the floor last season include sophomore Izzy DeLorenzo, junior Sarah Critchett, sophomore Olivia Picillo, and junior Ciaran Fernandez.
For this season the Lions are bolstered by their top two scorers from last season. In Iannitelli she was the top scorer in 2024-25 as a sophomore, averaging a little more than 21 points per game to go along with nine rebounds per contest. And McArdle as a freshman chipped in almost 11 points per game.
As part of new blood, Mount St. Dominic have a pair of freshmen in Hailey Root and Sofia Gonzalez. "Hailey has given us a jolt of athleticism, has good size and a very solid shooter too," said Dorf about Root while adding about Gonzalez. "Sof will be our secondary point-guard and also is very athletic. She is a very good driver of the basketball."
Along with the SEC American slate, Mount St. Dominic has some other tough independent contests with the likes of Mountain Lakes, Bernards and Passaic Tech.

Mount St. Dominic Girls Basketball
(Games at 4 p.m. unless noted)

Dec. 20 Newark Central, 10 a.m.
Dec. 23 Pequannock, 2:30 p.m.
Dec. 27 at Scotch Plains-Fanwood, at Livingston, 11 a.m.
Dec. 29 Holiday Tournament at Livingston, TBD
Jan. 3 at Arts, 1 p.m.
Jan. 6 at West Essex
Jan. 9 at Mountain Lakes
Jan. 10 at Ridgefield Park
Jan. 13 Glen Ridge
Jan. 15 University
Jan. 17 Passaic Tech at Kennedy High School, Noon
Jan. 20 Caldwell
Jan. 22 West Orange
Jan. 24 at Payne Tech, 10:30 a.m.
Jan. 25 West Morris Central at Morris Hills, 12:30 p.m.
Jan. 29 at Elmwood Park
Jan. 31 Essex County Tournament, TBA
Feb. 3 West Essex
Feb. 4 Cranford
Feb. 7 Essex County Tournament, TBA
Feb. 10 at Glen Ridge, 7 p.m.
Feb. 12 at University
Feb. 14 Essex County Tournament, TBA
Feb. 17 Caldwell, 7 p.m.
Feb. 19 Bernards, 5 p.m.
Feb. 23 Union Catholic
Feb. 27 State Tournament, First Round, TBA