Deanna Purcell ’15 is in her fifth season as the head coach of the Rivier women's basketball team in 2024-25.

Since taking on the role of head coach at Rivier, Purcell has led the Raiders to four playoff appearances in four consecutive seasons including a semifinal appearance in 2022-23. The season before she was appointed head coach, the team went 4-20. Purcell has since posted 53 wins, 37 of which came against conference opponents.

The 2024-25 season was highlighted by Lyric Grumblatt’s record-shattering season in which she broke Purcell’s all-time scoring record of 2,192 points, pouring in 683 points to sit at 2,523 at the conclusion of her career. She also broke the GNAC scoring record, which was held by Norwich’s Aliah Curry, who scored 2,267 points in her career.

Grumblatt was honored as the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Player of the Year for the third time while earning GNAC First Teams and Second Team All-Region honors from the New England Women’s Basketball Association (NEWBA).

In 2023-24, Grumblatt, who totaled 680 points, averaged 41.5 percent from field goal range and 37.4 percent from behind the three-point line. She earned several accolades, including GNA) Player of the Year, GNAC All-Conference First Team placement, a spot on D3Hoops.com Region 1 and New England Women’s Basketball Association (NEWBA) Second Teams, and was chosen to participate in the NEWBA Senior All-Star Classic and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division III Senior All-Star Game.

Under the leadership of Purcell in the 2022-23 season, four Raiders claimed GNAC awards while Grumblatt was honored with All-Conference First Team and NEWBA Third Team selections. 

The 2021-22 season was Purcell’s first season paired with Grumblatt who was named the GNAC Player and Rookie of the Year after an impressive first collegiate campaign. 

After nearly nine years atop the leaderboard, Purcell now sits second in the program’s all-time scoring with 2,192 points in 106 games. She averaged 20.6 points per game in the Raider blue-and-white while shooting 50.1% from the floor.

She was named to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference All-Conference First Team in all four years and was also selected as the conference’s Rookie of the Year (2012) and Player of the Year (2015). She holds the GNAC and program rookie record for points scored in a season (582 in 2011-12) and her teams held an overall record of 64-42 with a 35-12 mark against the conference. She led her teams to the GNAC playoffs in all four seasons, with two appearances in the semifinals.

Purcell also garnered honors from the New Hampshire Division III Coaches Association as she was tabbed to the All-State First Team three times and Second Team once. Purcell was also selected as the All-State Player of the Year (2014) and Freshman of the Year (2012) along with being selected to the 2015 D3Hoops.com All-Northeast Fourth Team.

Purcell earned her bachelor’s degree in history from Rivier in 2015 and her master's in special education from her alma mater in 2019.