The Pitt women’s basketball team added a member to its staff yesterday when it… The Pitt women’s basketball team added a member to its staff yesterday when it announced the hiring of assistant coach Patty Coyle.

Coyle brings 26 years of experience to the Panthers’ bench. She will fill one of the two assistant coaching positions that was left vacant when Jeff Williams became the head coach at LaSalle University and Yolett McPhee-McCuin moved to Clemson University to coach.

Coyle has both played and coached at the highest level, serving as the head coach of the WNBA’s New York Liberty for five years after leaving Loyola College in Maryland as the winningest coach in the program’s history.

Coyle is confident that her professional experience will benefit Pitt’s program.

“I can bring that competitiveness — that sense of ‘you have to get it done’ every night,” Coyle said. “I think the biggest thing is, I’ve been there. I was at the pro level for 11 years. I understand what it takes to get there, and I understand the approach at least to get you ready for that level.”

Coyle played on the gold medal-winning teams in the 1979 and 1980 U.S. Olympic Festival, as well as in the 1980 Pan American Games before winning a national championship to end her playing career at Rutgers.

“I am so excited to have Patty — someone who has tremendous Xs and Os knowledge — join our staff,” head coach Agnus Berenato said in a press release.