NEW YORK, NY (7/6/04) -- Former Hawk assistant coach Pat Coyle has been named interim head coach of the WNBA's New York Liberty. Coyle spent three seasons (1989-90 and 1990-92) at Saint Joseph's and worked with current SJU head coach Cindy Griffin and assistant coach Joe Logan while the head coach at Loyola (1992-98). Coyle replaces Richie Adubato, who spent over five years leading the Liberty.

Coyle is a coaching veteran of more than two decades. She has been a Liberty assistant since 1998, following a 6½-run as head coach at Loyola from 1992-98, where she compiled a record of 100-77. She has also had assistant coaching positions at St. Joseph's (1989-92), Rutgers University (1988-89) and University of Miami (1983-85).

As a player, Coyle played four years at Rutgers University, where she remains No. 3 on Rutgers' all-time list for games played (129). On the Knights all-time career lists, she ranks in the school's top 10 in assists (sixth with 394); free-throw percentage (fifth with .796) and field goal percentages (tenth with .488). Coyle is the 17th leading scorer in Rutgers history, with 1,029 points.

As a senior in 1981-82, Coyle earned tournament MVP honors as the Knights won their one-and-only national title, the AIAW National Championship. A 1982 Rutgers graduate, Coyle was inducted into the university's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.

She joins Connecticut Sun guard Debbie Black, a 1988 graduate of SJU, as the only Hawks currently associated with the WNBA.