A Pearl River, N.Y., native, Noreen Annunziata Apicella was noted as a knowledgeable leader and hustling guard with tremendous enthusiasm. Playing for the Mercy College women’s basketball program from 1982-86, Apicella is the Flyers’ fourth all-time scorer with 1,532 career points, two-points shy of tying fellow 2009 Hall of Fame inductee Mary Brechbiel Agnetti at No. 3. Apicella ranks sixth on the all-time steal record ledger with 254, seventh in all-time assists with 331 and 13th in rebounding with 657. Apicella is the first female basketball player in Rockland County history to score 1,000 points in high school and college.
Apicella was recruited from Pearl River High School where she was a three-sport Varsity student-athlete for the Lady Pirates. She was a six-time All County athlete in her three sports: softball, soccer and basketball. In addition to her success in basketball, she was a pitcher with an overall varsity record of 46-15 and led Pearl River to a Section 9 title in 1980. Apicella played halfback on the soccer field and was voted All County twice.
In her primary sport of basketball, Apicella was a first-team All-County selection three times. She led the county in scoring for three consecutive years, 1980-82. She posted 1,385 points in her high school career to place her third at the time on the county’s all-time scoring chart. During the summer of 1981, Apicella competed on the Hudson Valley Girls basketball team in the New York Empire State Games.
At Mercy College, Apicella was recruited and played for second-year head coach Carol Schachner-Leib, an inaugural Hall of Fame inductee. In her rookie season, she averaged 10.5 points and 5.1 rebounds. Schachner-Leib denoted Apicella as the “sparkplug of the team.” The Flyers finished 20-12 in 1982-83 and went 8-1 in the Hudson Valley Women’s Athletic Conference (HVWAC). Under Schachner-Leib, Apicella and the Flyers would have the most successful four years in Mercy College history with three-straight 20-win seasons and two runner-up finishes in the Empire State Conference.
As a sophomore, Apicella earned both New York State Division II All-State honors and HVWAC All-Conference honors with 16.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals. Apicella posted a career-high 468 points that season. The team went 22-8 (.733) and went 5-3 in the new Empire State Conference.
In her third season, Apicella averaged 12.2 points and 6.8 rebounds with the 22-7 Mercy College Flyers, who went 11-4 to finish second in the Empire State Conference. The Flyers lost 77-73 in the New York State Intercollegiate Athletic Association final to host school Canisius that season. Apicella sunk 18 points in the close loss. Apicella scored her 1,000th point earlier that season and the flyers went on to the NCAA Division II Eastern Regional Tournament. Mercy College received an At-Large bid to the tournament, while local rival Pace received the top bid.
As Mercy College’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1986, she averaged 13.8 points and 5.5 rebounds with the two-time Empire State Conference runners up. Apicella played alongside fellow guards Joyce LeNoir, and Ursula Gregg, Mercy College’s No. 2 all-time scorer, who were noted by writer Tom Quinn as the “cream of the Empire State crop.” Other notable teammates were center and inaugural Hall of Famer Stacey Gillespie and co-captain forwards Leslie Smith and Carol Lombardi. Apicella and Gillespie share the crown for the women’s basketball program’s most games played with 117.
Apicella finished her bachelor’s and master’s degree (Adaptive Physical Education and Psychology) from Mercy College. She then went on to become a special education teacher in Spring Valley.
Apicella currently resides in Stony Point, N.Y., with her husband Steve and sons Steven (17), Nicholas (12) and Christopher (9). She is a teacher in the North Rockland School District, teaching Physical Education. Still active in the sport of basketball, Apicella coaches her sons in the C.Y.O. league and continues to play softball in a women’s league.
