SUNY Binghamton University Women's Basketball

Mary Grimes on Wake Up Call With Dan Tortora 4/27/24 Mary Grimes completed her first year as the head coach at Binghamton University in 2024-25. She arrived from LeMoyne College, where she was the head coach the previous three seasons and was named the Northeast Conference (NEC) Coach of the Year for the 2023-24 season. After nearly two decades as an assistant coach, Grimes made the most of three seasons at the helm of the LeMoyne program. Her record was 56-30 and she led the Dolphins to a national post-season tournament appearance each year. The 2023-24 season was the Dolphins’ first at the NCAA Division I level and Grimes guided that transition in seamless fashion. She led the squad to an 18-15 finish – including a 14-2 conference record and an appearance in the NEC title game. Le Moyne capped off its inaugural Division I campaign with an appearance in the WNIT. With the Dolphins having been picked to finish eighth in their first season in the NEC, they outperformed expectations by claiming six regular-season sweeps and defeating every time in the conference at least once. Success came equally as much for Grimes during her first two seasons at LeMoyne as she ran up a record of 38-15. Competing at the NCAA Division II level, the Dolphins won two Northeast-10 Conference Regular Season titles and made a pair of appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Following the 2022-23 campaign, during which the Dolphins went 21-7 and won 16 of their final 17 regular season contests, Grimes was named the Northeast-10 Conference Coach of the Year. Prior to her three-years as the Dolphins head coach, Grimes was an assistant coach at LeMoyne under Jeanne Dupree from 2003-05 and Gina Castelli from 2017-19. In her two-year stint alongside Castelli, she helped the Dolphins to a 43-17 overall record, including a mark of 27-13 in Northeast-10 Conference play. At the time of her departure, both marks were the best in a two-year span in the program’s 23 years in the conference. From 2019-22, Grimes was an assistant coach at Xavier. She was responsible for scheduling opponents for future seasons, including managing the guarantee-game budget, served as offensive coordinator and scouting coach, identified and recruited potential prospects, led player development of guards, on-floor coaching and assisted with practice and game planning. She was also the academic liaison for the Musketeers with the team GPA rising from a 2.6 to a 3.2 after her hiring. In between her two stints as an assistant coach with LeMoyne, Grimes was part of the coaching staff at UAlbany from 2010-16. The Great Danes won five consecutive America East Conference Championships from 2012-16 and earned berths in the NCAA Championships each of those five seasons. UAlbany went 146-47 in the six years that Grimes was on the staff, including a mark of 107-23 over the final four seasons.  Prior to her time at UAlbany, Grimes was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Syracuse University from 2005-10. Grimes was responsible for scouting reports and pre/post-game film breakdown, assisting with strategies and game planning for opponents and on-floor coaching. She was also the liaison for strength and conditioning and monitored student-athlete academic progress. As recruiting coordinator during her final two seasons at Syracuse, Grimes was responsible for recruiting the Collegiate Girls Basketball Report's eighth-ranked class in 2009. The Orange posted a 16-win improvement from Grimes' first season on the staff (nine wins) to her final season under head coach Quentin Hillsman (25 wins). The Orange earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament in 2008 after going 22-8 prior to the announcement of the tournament field. The Orange appeared in the WNIT in 2009 and advanced to the 2010 WNIT quarterfinals. Grimes is a 2003 graduate of Siena College, where she earned a Bachelor's of Science degree in marketing and management. Grimes was a four-year member of the Saints' women's basketball team under the direction of Castelli, who was assisted by Hillsman during Grimes' freshman and sophomore seasons. Grimes started 93 of 119 games played as a Saint, scored 770 points, grabbed 288 rebounds, dished out 220 assists and posted 123 steals. The Saints were the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) regular season champions in 2001, 2002 and 2003 and captured the MAAC Tournament Championship in 2001 to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Saints appeared in the WNIT in 2002 and 2003, advancing to the second round in 2003. THE GRIMES FILE 2024-present: Head Coach, Binghamton University 2021-24: Head Coach, LeMoyne College 2019-22: Assistant Coach, Xavier University 2017-19: Assistant Coach, LeMoyne College 2010-17: Assistant Coach, UAlbany 2005-10: Assistant Coach, Syracuse University 2003-05: Assistant Coach, LeMoyne College  

Zakiya Saunders completed the first season of her second stint at Binghamton in 2024-25. Saunders is no stranger to the Binghamton program, having served as the Bearcats' Director of Operations during the 2022-23 campaign. She arrives from St. Francis (Pa.), where she was an assistant coach this past season. During her undergraduate career, Saunders was part of a UAlbany squad from 2013-16 which included Grimes as an assistant coach. She played on three straight America East championship teams and was named second-team all-conference in 2016. Prior to the 2016-17 campaign, Saunders transferred to the University of Central Florida (UCF). After sitting out the year in accordance with the NCAA rules for transfers, she earned second-team all-conference honors during her final season (2017-18).   Following her graduation from UCF, Saunders played professionally in Sweden during the 2018-19 season and in Poland during the 2019-20 campaign. At the AAU level, Saunders coached the Orlando Basketball Club (OBC) during the 2021-22 season.

Evelyn Thompson enters her first season as an assistant coach at Binghamton in 2025-26. Thompson, meanwhile, arrives from UMass Lowell, where she was the recruiting coordinator this past season. It marked her second stint with an America East program, having also been the Interim Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator at Stony Brook from 2009-11. In between those stops, Thompson was the head coach of the Michigan Crossover AAU Elite Team (2011-13), a consultant for Blue Star Basketball (2013-15), an assistant coach at Tennessee Tech (2015-16) and Tennessee State (2016-17) as well as the head coach at Cleveland State Community College (2017-23) and an assistant at Miami (Ohio) during the 2023-24 season. Prior to her role at Stony Brook, Thompson was an assistant coach at Arizona State (1990-93), Western Kentucky (1993-94), Buffalo (2002-07) and Michigan State (2007-09).

Jason Marshall enters his first season of his second stint as an assistant coach with the Binghamton women's basketball program in 2025-26. Marshall - who was also an assistant coach at Binghamton during the 2013-14 season - arrives from York (N.Y.) College, where he was the head coach the previous two years. In between those two posts were assistant coaching stints at Central Connecticut State (2014-21), Ramapo (2021-22) and Saint Peter’s (2022-23). In addition, Marshall was an assistant coach at Army from 2008-13.

Emma MacDonough completed her first season at Binghamton in 2024-25. She arrives from Le Moyne College, where she worked in the same capacity under current Binghamton head coach Mary Grimes. During her year at Le Moyne, where she also worked on her MBA, MacDonough assisted with several facets of the Dolphins' program. They include practices, game planning, scouting and recruiting. In addition, she organized the team's road trips as well as academic updates with the student-athletes throughout the season. A 2023 graduate of St. Michael's College, where she was a two-year captain, MacDonough was the head coach for the Blueprint AAU program in 2022 and worked with the Lone Wolf AAU clinic from 2018-20. She also was a Director and Coach at basketball camps at both St. Michael's and Quinnipiac during the summers between 2018-23.  

Lytoya Baker completed her first season as the Video Coordinator at Binghamton. Baker arrives from Le Moyne College, from where she graduated this past spring. She had a standout career with the Dolphins, which included being named the 2023 and 2024 Northeast Conference (NEC) Defensive Player of the Year and being selected as a 2023 Women's Basketball Coaches' Association (WBCA) NCAA Division II honorable mention All-American. Behind the scenes, Baker was extensively involved with the intramural program at Le Moyne. She was both an official and scorekeeper for multiple sports, made up the game schedules and was responsible for the set up and tear down of events.