May 12, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; May 12, 2017 - The Penn State women's basketball program and head coach Coquese Washington have announced the addition of Samantha Breen (Pittsburgh) for the upcoming 2017-18 season.
A prep standout from Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, Breen joins a pair of Michigan standouts in Kamaria McDaniel (Inkster, Mich.) and Alisia Smith (Lansing, Mich.) as the three newcomers for the 2017-18 campaign.
"We are very excited that Sam Breen is joining the Penn State family as a member of the Lady Lion Basketball program," said Washington. "She is a versatile player, who has enjoyed tremendous success during her high school career in Pittsburgh. We are thrilled to have the reigning Gatorade Player of the Year bring her game to Happy Valley, and our fans will certainly enjoy watching her display her talents in the years to come."
A four-year varsity starter, Breen amassed a school-record 2,488 points - a total that ranks No. 10 in the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) record books - and reached double figures in the scoring column in 79-straight games to end her prep career. She piled up 385 points as a freshman, notched 615 tallies as a sophomore, scored 825 markers as a junior and capped her career with 663 points.
Her abilities are not limited to just scoring, as the athletic post player also added 1,175 rebounds, 335 assists, 246 steals and 153 blocked shots in her high school career. In 110 career games played, she reached double figures in 105 of them and piled up a double-double in 64 contests. Her per-game averages stood at 22.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.4 blocked shots for her prep career.
Breen helped the Trojanettes to the 2016 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Class A State Championship and led them to the WPIAL crown during the 2017 campaign.
For her efforts on the court, Breen was a three-time all-state selection, two-time Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Fab Five pick and garnered a host of player of the year recognitions. As a sophomore, Breen was selected second-team all-state and she followed that with back-to-back selections to the all-state first team. Along with the all-state honors, Breen's senior campaign also featured a McDonald's All-American nomination, Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year, Pennsylvania Class 4A Player of the Year, along with Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Tribune Review Player of the Year honors.
Breen is also currently a finalist for Pennsylvania Miss Basketball after averaging 23.7 points, 10.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, leading North Catholic to the quarterfinals of the PIAA Class 4A Girls' Basketball Championships and a 25-3 overall mark.