Sister Maria Pares, a coaching legend not only at Canisius College, but throughout Western New York, passed away on Friday afternoon following a 16-year battle with cancer. She was 75.
The first female head coach to be inducted into the Canisius Sports Hall of Fame, Pares posted a career record of 108-39 as the head women’s basketball coach at Canisius from 1981-86. After serving as the long-time head coach at Sacred Heart Academy in Buffalo, Pares took over the Canisius program in 1981-82, where her Golden Griffins won 22-straight games en route to a 26-5 record and a fourth-place finish at the AIAW Regional.
In 1982-83, the Blue and Gold posted a 28-5 record, won 15 consecutive games and advanced to the NCAA Division II Quarterfinals, while the 1983-84 squad earned a second-place ECAC finish after recording a 23-8 overall mark. The 1982-83 Converse Region II Coach of the Year, Pares left Canisius after the 1985-86 campaign as the school’s winningest women’s basketball coach, a record she held for 26 years. In her time on Main Street, she coached three All-Americans, never lost back-to-back games and posted a .735 career win percentage, which ranks first in the program’s history. She also served as an assistant coach with the Canisius softball program.
Pares was inducted into the Canisius Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and then again in 2011 when the 1982-83 edition of the women’s basketball team was honored as the first women’s team to join the College’s Sports Hall of Fame. A member of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame, she became the fifth woman associated with the Canisius basketball program to be named to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Basketball Hall of Fame Honor Roll in Springfield, Massachusetts in October 2015. For her career accomplishments at the scholastic level, she is a member of both the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame and the Sacred Heart Hall of Fame.
Calling hours will be held Thursday, Jan. 26 and Friday Jan. 27 at Amigone Funeral Home, located at 1132 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo. A Mass of Christina Burial will be held Saturday, Jan. 28 at St. Michael’s Church, located at 661 Washington Street in Buffalo. Times will be posted when they become available.
from GoGriffs.com via IFTTT
