Sam Guastella enters her second season as an assistant women's basketball coach in 2020-21 after being elevated from her position as a graduate assistant during the 2018-19 season.
In her role, she aids in player development, practice execution, and scout preparation. As a graduate assistant, Guastella helped the team with its nutrition and fitness needs, while also handling operations on the road.
During the 2019-20 campaign, the Explorers showed vast improvements from year one to two, including the program's best start since 2006 at 6-1. The Blue & Gold more than doubled both its overall (13) and Atlantic 10 (7) win totals in year two. The victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions was La Salle's first over a Power 5 program since November 2015 and first over a Big Ten school since taking down Northwestern in December of 1988. The Explorers also swept Big 5 and A-10 rival Saint Joseph's for the first time ever. A gritty win over the Hawks inside Hagan Arena was the first since 1998.
In the same season, Kayla Spruill, who worked directly with Guastella, nearly doubled her points and tripled her rebounds per game to earn the title of Big 5 Most Improved Player.
Most recently, Guastella played a full season for T71 Dudelange in Dudealange, Luxembourg during in 2017-18. Over the course of the season, the Red Bank, N.J. native posted 18.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game. Her team fell in the Total League Championship.
Before her full season with T71 Dudelange, Guastella spent February through April 2017 in Australia playing for Hume City in Melbourne.
After her stellar career at QU, Guastella thrived in her rookie season at the professional ranks for BBC Etzella in Luxembourg, as she averaged a team-leading 19.8 points per game while adding 6.6 rebounds in a team-high 36.2 minutes across 25 games. She shot a team-best 58 percent from the floor (134-231 FG) while going 34.7 percent from three (59-170 3FG) and 77.8 percent from the free throw line (49-63 FT). Guastella led BBC Etzella to the semifinal round of the Luxembourg League playoffs in 2015-16.
She followed up her rookie campaign by leading T71 Dudelange and the Total League in scoring with 23.7 points per game.
A thrilling four-year star at Quinnipiac, Guastella graduated in 2015 after having led the Bobcats to their best season in program history amassing a record of 31-4 in 2014-15 while leading Quinnipiac to their first MAAC Championship. A 2015 MAAC First Team Selection, Guastella broke out with a sensational senior campaign wherein she averaged 12.8 points (44.9 FG%, 42 3FG%), 5.7 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steals in 25.3 minutes per game.
The Bobcats' do-everything forward was the only player in the country to rank in the Top 100 for three-point field goals per game (2.91; 10
th NCAA Div. I) and blocked shots (1.83; 70
th NCAA Div. I) per game. She was also just one of three players to rank in the Top 20 in three-point percentage (42.0; 14
th NCAA Div. I) and three-point field goals (2.91) per game. Guastella finished her career as the all-time leader in Quinnipiac's women's basketball history in three-pointers (225) and the QU Div. I (since 1998-99) all-time leader in blocked shots (179).
A 2015 graduate of Quinnipiac, Guastella has a bachelor's in health sciences and is pursuing her master's degree from La Salle.
