It was the middle of May, and Maggie Pina was racing against the timeline that governs the college basketball offseason: the transfer portal.
The 5-foot-7 guard had wrapped up her fourth season at Boston University nearly two months prior, where she helped the Terriers to a 17-1 record in Patriot League play and a regular season championship — the first in program history.
Pina said her intentions were to use her extra year of eligibility for one final season in Boston. But, after seeing her former teammates step away from the game of basketball and into a new chapter of their lives, she shifted course.
“But my senior spring, going to practices without my class there for basketball was just really bizarre for me,” Pina said. “We accomplished a lot at BU and I’m super grateful for my time there, but I was more ready to move on than I think I realized.”
With the window to enter the transfer portal narrowing on “a random weekend in the middle of May,” she began searching for a new school. With a blackout period starting that Monday, Pina expedited the recruiting process.
Atop her proverbial portal checklist was a school’s academic pedigree. Pina, who plans on going to law school once her playing days are over, said she “wanted to go somewhere where I’d get a good education and be able to compete.”
Pina reached out to a number of programs at top-tier academic schools to ask about any roster openings, and Northwestern fit the billing. She had never spoken to any of the Wildcats’ coaches before, but a mutual connection — her former AAU coach, who also coached current freshman guard Casey Harter — introduced Pina to a pair of NU assistant coaches: Tangela Smith and Maggie Lyon.
Following the conversations, Smith and Lyon wanted to deliberate for a week. Pina said she couldn’t afford to wait that long.
“I was really worried that I wasn’t going to have anywhere to go when I entered the portal or that I wasn’t going to have anywhere that would set me up as well as BU was going to,” Pina said. “I didn’t want that stress.”
When the ’Cats confirmed there was indeed a scholarship available, Pina jumped at the chance. Her whole transfer process — from entrance to commitment — took all of five hours, she said.
Heading into her final season of collegiate basketball with a new team, Pina is assured in her role for NU: to be a leader on and off the court and to shoot the ball — especially from distance.
Coach Joe McKeown’s squad was the worst 3-point shooting team in the Big Ten last season, connecting on just 26.7% of its triples.
At Big Ten Media Days in October, McKeown said addressing those 3-point shooting woes was a priority in the offseason, which made Pina’s recruitment a match made in nylon heaven.
“(She) scored 990-some points in her career at Boston (University),” McKeown said. “We couldn’t shoot last year. Every time we talked recruiting … the main focus was we’ve got to shoot, we’ve got to find somebody to shoot.”
Pina, a career 34.4% 3-point shooter with the Terriers, fits the billing. The Pennsylvania native canned a team-high 51 triples last season on a career-high 37.5% shooting from deep, placing her fifth in Boston University program history with 186 made 3-pointers.
McKeown brought Pina to Evanston to space the floor for the ’Cats, hoping to open up the paint for senior forward Paige Mott’s and junior forward Caileigh Walsh’s interior scoring.
The pair of NU bigs were battling double or triple teams constantly last season, largely due to the team’s inability to threaten opponents from deep — which allowed opposing players to dig and help opposite, Pina said.
“It was really hard when you’re throwing the ball to our posts when (opponents) had already collapsed,” Pina said. “We have to be able to move the ball around and still get it to them because they are a key part of our offense. (We do that) by not only making our shots from 3, but making sure that we’re taking them to make people come out (to the perimeter).”
Pina is still adjusting to life in Evanston, in particular McKeown’s patented Blizzard defensive system, which is forcing her to break the habits she worked so hard to build at Boston. She logged 19 minutes for the ’Cats in their 80-54 exhibition victory over Lewis, attempting just one triple. McKeown expects to generate more looks for the super senior when NU’s bigs enforce their will in the paint.
Although her recruitment was rapid, Pina now has five months to enjoy playing at NU, starting Thursday against UIC.
“I’m most excited to be able to play on a stage as big as the Big Ten,” Pina said. “I want to be able to compete with some of the bigger teams, playing in the big arenas. … I’m just looking forward to the Big Ten experience on the whole, and hopefully we have a better season than last year.”
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