Newcomer provides boost for women’s basketball to start year

Everyone, meet senior guard Briana Peguero. Peguero recently transferred in from Mercer and immediately made her presence known.

Despite the 80-78 loss to Buffalo, the senior led the team in scoring. Peguero scored 15 points, all from beyond the arc. To go with her offensive production, she also added two steals on the day.

The spotlight is not new for Peguero. During her sophomore season of high school at Jersey Village High School in Houston, she won the 6A District Championship, earning All-District First Team honors. She also won Defensive Player of the Year in that same sophomore season.

Her college career started at Trinity Valley Community College. In her freshman season, Peguero averaged 11.3 points on 38.1%shooting from the field. This stat line earned her a spot on the Region 16 Championship team.

Her sophomore season was even more spectacular. As a sophomore, Peguero led her team to a 34-3 record en route to a Region 16 championship. The guard averaged 11.4 points, 2.7 assists, and 1.5 steals, earning her NJCAA D-I All-American Honorable Mention. She also earned NJCAA D-I National Tournament All-Tournament Team after averaging 16.8 points shooting 51%from the field in tournament play.

Following her sophomore season, she got the attention of several Division I coaches before ultimately committing to Mercer. In her junior season with the Bears, Peguero averaged 10.1 points, 1.4 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.1 steals while shooting 35.7%from the field. Over the offseason, Peguero transferred to Troy. The guard needy Trojans were in search of a senior leader, and they may have found that in Peguero. In her first ever game in a Trojan uniform, she went 5-for-7 from three. Peguero scored all 15 of her points from beyond the arc sparking a comeback that fell just short against Buffalo.

Peguero and the rest of the Trojans return to action Thursday, Nov. 7 against Montana State in Bozeman, Montana. A bigger matchup looms on the horizon as the Trojans visit nationally-ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Sunday, Nov. 10.