All-American honorable mention, CSAC player of the year, 1,000-point scorer and fifth place on the all-time scoring record. The list of accolades and awards stretching over the past four years goes on and on.
Brittany Sandone, or “Britt” as her teammates and coaches called her, a Harleysville, Pa native and Cabrini class of 2014 graduate, said that if she could she would absolutely do it all over again.
“I miss Cabrini as a whole. You wake up one day and it’s all gone,” Sandone said. “Just this whole community and seeing everyone on campus everyday. You don’t realize the bond you have with these people until you graduate and have to start a new life.”
The experiences that Sandone went through at Cabrini helped shaped her into the person that she is today.
“My time management is better than anyone else’s,” Sandone said. “Basketball is like your full-time job on top of school.” Having to juggle school work with being an athlete at the same time for the past four years taught her to manage her time wisely.
She also has developed a sense of drive from her time spent on the court.
“I’m always setting goals for myself, which stemmed from being apart of a team and having people push you,” Sandone said.
Since Sandone graduated this past May she has kept busy with her new job. She works full-time in the North Penn school district at Hatfield elementary school as a special-ed assistant. Throughout the day Sandone works with autistic students, which takes up most of her time.
“It’s work but if I had to be working it’s definitely what I would be doing. I do love it,” Sandone said. “I’m not a lead teacher yet so that’s kind of my next goal.”
Speaking of goals, Sandone helped to lead the Cabrini women’s basketball program to reach plenty of them while achieving history on the way. In her last two years here the team won the Colonial States Athletic Conference championship back to back, stayed undefeated on their home court, made two consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, and most importantly Sandone believes, marked the program’s first-ever NCAA tournament win this past year.
“We actually made history,” Sandone said.
All of this did not just occur for Sandone over night. It took hardwork and dedication, two traits that her former head coach Kate Pearson would use to describe her.
“She was really dedicated. One of the last ones to leave the gym and one of the first ones there,” Pearson said. “If things were not going well for her she was going to find out ways to fix it.”
Sandone was the type of player that not only pushed herself but her teammates around her as well.
“When you’re marked as one of the best players for a team from freshman year til senior year, it can be easy for you to not work as hard,” Pearson said. “I feel like she never took that easy path.”
When asked what her all-time favorite memory from all of her experiences at Cabrini is, Sandone said. “The people that I met here, the team.”
“We were so close we spent every hour together,” Sandone said. “The bond that the seniors had for four years, we started off together coming into this team that we knew would be starting from rock bottom and we worked our way and we worked hard during the season and offseason.”
Former teammates junior Maura O’Connell and senior Amber Keys had nothing but good things to say about their time spent with Sandone as a teammate.
“She just wanted to win and thats what I think changed the program here at Cabrini,” O’Connell said. “She had a good work ethic. It was a fun two years playing with her and you always wish you can get them back.”
“Playing with Britt these last three years was an amazing experience. Her game ignited a fire in every person wearing a Cabrini jersey and the fans cheering for us on the sideline,” Keys said. “I am lucky to have had the opportunity to play with her and I wish her all the best in life.”
Although her time as a Cabrini student-athlete is over Sandone will never forget all the great moments she experienced and memories that she made.
“This has been my life for the past four years,” Sandone said. “It’s just like the next chapter in your book. Another chapter has closed and its time to open a new one.”
