June 16 marked the start of the 2026 season for the women’s basketball summer league that was founded more than 30 years ago at Chestnut Hill’s Water Tower Recreation Center.

In the more recent past, the Philadelphia/Suburban Women’s Basketball League had been operating at an un-airconditioned facility, but thanks to the generosity of Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, the action has moved into PW’s state-of-the-art West Gym. The scoring tables and a concession stand are being capably operated by Plymouth Whitemarsh students.

The league features nine teams made up of NCAA Division II and III college players and alumni, including incoming college freshmen. Competition takes place two nights per week, and on a typical night, eight teams engage in four games while the ninth has a bye.

A few teams which feature largely intact Division II college teams are usually the strongest contenders. The defending champions, a team powered mainly by Holy Family University players, has returned as Team Aquatic, with nine HFU players supplemented by three athletes from the league’s “draft.”

Team Blackstar consists of 10 Jefferson University players along with two from New Jersey’s Georgian Court University. Jefferson, Holy Family and Georgian Court are all members of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC), along with Chestnut Hill College.

Both Aquatic and Blackstar emerged from their games last week with records of 2-0. Team Sunburst (almost all Division III Ursinus College players) had a bye on June 16 and then won on June 17, 49-45, over Team Royal Crown. Royal Crown’s roster lists players from various DIII schools, including 2026 Germantown Academy graduate Jennifer Fox. Finishing rehab from an injury, Fox will be medically cleared to play in this week’s games.

Another recent GA grad, Sylvie Harrington, has become a member of Team Electric Pink along with her future Gettysburg College teammate, Bailey Balkir (Gwynedd Mercy Academy). The pink team blends various DIII players along with five women from Delaware’s Goldey Beacom College. Division II Goldey Beacom is a member of the CACC, and is coached by Chestnut Hill College alumna Bethann (Castone) Burke.

On June 16, Harrington scored six points as her team defeated Team Electric Green, 88-53. The Green team received four points from another GA grad, Gabby Bowes, who is a rising sophomore at Division II Millersville University. Her Millersville teammate Holly Gohl is also on the Green team, which is largely made up of players from Division III Gwynedd Mercy University.

Aquatic, the Holy Family bunch, got points from nine different players in a 78-39 victory over Royal Crown. A draft player on Aquatic, Gwynedd Mercy Academy graduate Brooke Evans, contributed eight points. She’ll be a freshman at New Jersey’s Stevens Institute of Technology.

The Jefferson U. franchise, Blackstar, had 10 players score, with rising senior Emily Spratt’s 14 points leading the way to a 75-47 win against Team Jade, which has athletes from Arcadia University and other Division III schools.

In the other game on June 16, Team Purple Haze took down Team Citrine Orange, 86-27. Purple has four team members from Division II West Chester University, as well as Chestnut Hill College rising senior Bryanna Hicks.

Hick scored 14 points, and the game high of 18 belonged to a PW grad who is a rising senior at West Chester, Erin Daley.

In the losing cause, Orange received eight points from Charlotte DiLello, a Germantown Academy alumna who graduated from Ursinus College last year. Two other GA grads would make their first appearance for the Orange squad the following night: DiLello’s older sister Sarah (who also played at Ursinus) and Maddie Vizza, who went on from the Patriots to play for Division I Northeastern University (’24).

In the June 17 game, Citrine Orange lost, 92-60, to a Jade ballclub that was clearly starting to gel as a unit. Charlotte DiLello put up six points for the Orange.

Earlier on the same court, Blackstar upped its record to 2-0 as it cruised past Pink, 80-47. Gabby Recinto, a rising senior at Jefferson, logged a game-high 20 points while Spratt added 15. Bridget Archbold (Archbishop Carroll/Catholic University ’29) led the Pinksters with 16 points, and Balkir, the Gwynedd Mercy Academy grad, added nine.

The Purple team had enough Division II talent to hang with Aquatic, for a time. The scoreboard turned over slowly until the two squads were tied at 17-all at halftime. Coming out of the break, a determined Aquatic crew opened up a lead and pulled away, winning 55-33. Holy Family’s Ella Brown, a rising sophomore, scored 15 points to lead all scorers.