A trio of players — and their coach — are bringing some Philly flair to Northwestern women’s basketball

For West Chester native Maggie Pina, academics have always been a top priority.

The graduate of Academy of Notre Dame de Namur earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and recently completed her master’s in criminal justice at Boston University — all while being a Division I athlete.

Actually, she’s a dual-sport athlete in basketball and field hockey. Pina played four years of basketball at BU and was known as a stellar sharpshooter. She ranked fifth in program history for most three-pointers made in a career (186). In her senior season, she earned a walk-on spot on the field hockey team.

She hopes to become a criminal justice attorney one day, doing pro bono work or contributing to the Innocence Project, a nonprofit that is committed to exonerating individuals who have been wrongly convicted.

And now, she’s inching closer toward her professional goal. In June, Pina entered the transfer portal, taking advantage of her extra year of eligibility. That’s when Northwestern, one of the top academic schools in the nation, reached out to her about basketball.

» READ MORE: West Chester’s Maggie Pina, once an overlooked recruit, developed into a dual-sport athlete at Boston University

It also was a fitting opportunity for her in the next phase of her academic journey. She’ll be pursuing a specialized certificate from the School of Professional Studies at Northwestern and eventually plans to apply to law school.

“I want to be able to have the best schools on my resumé,” Pina said. “That was something that I always thought about and a big reason why I waited to enter the portal until as long as I did.

“It was really just about high academics that was number one for me. I didn’t really have as much of an emphasis on where I wanted to go, whether it was to another mid-major or big-time school like Northwestern.”

The Wildcats have a bit of Philly flavor in Evanston, Ill., this year. Under veteran head coach Joe McKeown, a Philadelphia native who attended Father Judge, Pina and incoming freshman Casey Harter, a graduate of Souderton High School, will team up with former Abington Friends standout Paige Mott.

Pina and Harter played AAU locally for the Comets, and, while they never competed on the same team, they had mutual connections that helped jump-start their friendship before summer workouts started.

“It was great to hear that she lived so close to me, played for the same organization as I did, and also has the experience of playing college basketball,” Harter, a 5-foot-11 guard, said. “It’s cool that there’s going to be somebody else coming in that I can learn from and also having another person there for me.”

The Comets helped Harter and Pina receive exposure to college scouts. After a tournament, Harter, a junior at the time, recalled receiving a text from McKeown, and, a few days later, she was offered a scholarship.

She narrowed her options down to Northwestern, Harvard, and Providence, but the Wildcats being notable as a basketball program and a university, Harter said, felt like a perfect combination of what she wanted.

“One of the higher things on my list was education,” Harter said. “I wanted to be able to have one of the best educations that I could, and same with basketball. I wanted to go somewhere where I knew I would fit in.”

» READ MORE: A year ago, she played for UNC. Now, this Chadds Ford native is the Tar Heels’ head coach at age 23.

The style of play at Northwestern also caught the trio’s attention during the recruiting process because it’s similar to what they grew up around. Philly hoops has two types of systems, Mott said, structured basketball and more one-on-one matchups.

“Coach loves both of these,” said Mott, who averaged 8.9 points and 4.4 rebounds last season. “Casey would be more of a one-on-one person. She loves to do that, which is great. Then Maggie fits more into the structured system. She knows exactly where to be when I or someone drives.

“We need both of those players. They’re really going to fit well within our team.”

The three hope to help the Wildcats crack the top 25 and return to the NCAA Tournament, an achievement they haven’t secured since the 2020-21 season, when Northwestern topped out at No. 15 in the AP poll and lost in the second round to then-No. 2 Louisville.

This year also will mark the final chapter of Pina’s collegiate basketball career. She’ll miss the practices and games, but more so, she’ll miss seeing the same players who supported and motivated her to realize her potential as a student-athlete.

“Playing a Division I sport helped me do better in school,” Pina said. “You have to stay on top of everything or you’ll fall behind really fast, so having that schedule was good for me. I’ll have to start figuring out how to manage my time after sports. Then, ideally, I’ll go to law school in the next year or two.”