New Rochelle, NY - Iona College women's basketball head coach Anthony Bozzella announced four student-athletes have signed National Letters of Intent during the early signing period and will play basketball in Maroon & Gold beginning next fall.  International players Tomica Bacic and Jessica Scannell and Sarah Schoof and Kara Kochanek from the eastern U.S. will be among the new faces at Iona.

"I have to give a tremendous amount of credit to our recruiting coordinator, Mandy Myers, who spear-headed the identification of each of these talented student-athletes," said Coach Bozzella.  "Mandy, along with the rest of my staff, worked tirelessly and travelled all around the world during the recruiting process of these four young ladies. Our past and future success is directly attributed to the hard work of my staff."

Tomica Bacic, a 6-0 guard/forward from Croatia, led her team to the Fiba Under 18 Group B Championship this past summer.  She averaged 11.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.9 assists, including a game-high 22 points against host Romania in the championship game.  "I am extremely excited that Tomica has decided to attend college in the U.S. and has chosen Iona.  I feel she will have an immediate impact on our team and in the MAAC."

Jessica Scannell, a 5-7 guard from Cork, Ireland, was voted the Irish Examiner National Junior Sports Player of the Year in 2006-07.  As captain, she helped lead her team to an eighth place finish in the Fiba Under 18 Group B Championship.  She averaged 13.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game.  Scannell will be majoring in Biology.  "Jessica will be an outstanding addition to our family here at Iona.  To get arguably the best player out of the country says a lot about our program and our school."

Sarah Schoof, a 6-3 forward from Fairfax, VA, averaged 13 points and 11 rebounds per game for W.T. Woodson High School as a junior.  She also played for the nationally renowned AAU powerhouse Lessons Learned.  "Sarah comes to us with excellent tools and is a bright, intelligent, and hard-working player who will fit into our system nicely here at Iona."

Kara Kochanek, a 6-3 forward from South Windsor, CT, averaged 14 points and nine rebounds per game as a junior for East Catholic High School.  She also played for one of the top AAU teams on the east coast, the Connecticut Starters.  "Kara is an outstanding athlete who will help us trememdously in our up-tempo, pressing style.  Kara continues to get better each and every day, and I see a bright future for her here at Iona."