The Philadelphia/Suburban Women's Summer Basketball League, which traces its origins to Chestnut Hill's Water Tower Recreation Center in the mid-1990's, launched its 30th season on June 11.

Made up of NCAA Division II and Division III college players, including incoming freshmen and some alumni athletes, the league now stages its games at the Renegades' AAU Kelly Bolish Gym in Hatboro.

Chestnut Hill College and Jefferson University athletes play together on summer squads known as Team Red Fire and Team Black, respectively. Fellow members of the Division II Central Atlantic Athletic Conference, Holy Family University and Goldey Beacom College, are also represented. Germantown Academy alum Alexa Naessens, a 2022 graduate of Colgate University (former Division I athletes are eligible to play) helped start a second alumni team this year, an outfit consisting largely of former University of the Sciences players.

Sprinkled around the league are other athletes from GA, Penn Charter, and Springfield Township High School.

The opening night of Tuesday, June 11, marked an unusually early start for league competition, with many players missing from a number of teams, and with one ballclub becoming a no-show entirely. On Thursday, the league began to look more like its usual self.

That night, there was a showdown between two Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference teams as Team Red Fire (Chestnut Hill College) met Team Sky Blue (Holy Family University). With rising juniors Sara Tamoun and Avery White penetrating to the basket and sophomore Bridie McCann (the CACC Rookie of the Year last winter) connecting on shots from the perimeter, summer CHC led at the quarter, 12-10 and at halftime, 24-23.

Sky Blue moved the ball more briskly on offense after halftime, opening up a double-digit lead late in the third quarter and going on to win, 61-45. On a positive note for CHC Red, incoming freshman Julianna DiFebbo reached double figures in scoring, with 11 points.

New Chestnut Hill head coach Megan Fox was in the house for both of her team's contests last week (Coaches don't directly coach their teams during games).

Fox played in the CACC during her first two years of college at Wilmington University, then completed her career at Arcadia University.

After that, she served as a high school assistant coach, a college assistant coach, and a college head coach. Immediately before being hired by Chestnut Hill, Fox spent two seasons as the head coach at Penn State Abington.

The reigning CACC champion, Jefferson Black, went ahead of Team Royal Blue in the first quarter, 25-15, and cruised to a 91-62 win. CACC Player of the Year Sam Yencha scored 19 points and another rising senior, Cassie Murphy, scored 17. Two incoming freshmen, Carolyn Sipprell and Ana Pellecchia, each scored 15 points.

Team Royal Blue is made up largely of athletes from CACC member Goldey Beacom College, with a few fill-in players to round out the roster. One of the non-GBC players in the line-up is recent Springfield Township High School grad Grace Dailey, who will play for Moravian University.

Team Purple Haze, almost entirely West Chester University players, cruised to a 93-42 win over a squad staffed by NCAA Division III players, Team Orange Citrus. Plymouth Whitemarsh alum Anna McTamney hit five three-pointers and scored a total of 28 points for the winners.

Royal Blue includes Germantown Academy grad Abby Marino, who has just finished her freshman year at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Last year's summer league champion, Team Pink, is now known as Team Cyber Pink, and still has CHC grads Lauren Crim, Abbey Spratt, and Cassie (Sebold) Spratt on its roster. On Thursday this squad won, 66-48 over Team Lime Citrus, the new team in the league which was co-founded by GA's Naessens.