Pioneers Drop Season Opener, 74-48, at UMass
11/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2002
AMHERST, MA (November 22, 2002) - The Sacred Heart women's basketball team tipped-off the 2002-03 season Friday evening dropping a 74-48 decision to the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA. The Minutewomen had four starters in double figures on the evening and punished the Pioneers with both a powerful inside game and some sharp shooting on the perimeter.
Senior Jennifer Butler carried over her dominance of last season picking up a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds in 26 minutes of action. Fellow senior Nekole Smith had a strong game of her own, netting 14 points underneath for UMass. The Minutewomen outscored SHU 45-16 in the paint, coming up with 18 second chance points as they outrebounded the Pioneers 44-27 in the contest.
The backcourt combination of senior Ebony Pegues and sophomore Katie Smith combined to go 11-for-17 from the field and five-for-eight from three-point range to put the game out of reach. Smith finished four-for-five from behind the arc as the Minutewomen shot 60.0% from three in the game.
Sacred Heart turned the ball over 26 times while shooting just 33.3% from the field to fall to 0-1 to start the year. One of the lone bright spots for Sacred Heart on the evening was the stellar play of freshman Nicolle Rubino (Port Jefferson, NY) in her collegiate debut. Rubino entered the game in the first half and proceeded to hit her first four shots, all three-point makes. Her three at the 6:13 mark cut the UMass lead to 27-21, the closest the Pioneers would get the rest of the way. She finished five-for-nine from the field, four-for-seven from three, with three assists, three steals and a block in 25 minutes.
Senior forward Brooke Kelly (Medford, NJ) found her way into double figures for the ninth straight game dating back to last season. Kelly finished with 14 points and six boards in 36 minutes of action. With her 14 points tonight, she needs only 13 points to become just the ninth member of the school's 1,000-point club.
SHU's senior trio of Kelly, Ashley Durmer (Nashua, NH) and Brooke Rutnik (Albany, NY) combined for 23 points and 12 rebounds on the night.
Kelly will get her shot at the milestone when the Pioneers return to action on Tuesday, November 26th as they travel to Easton, PA to face the Lafayette University Leopards at 7:00 pm. SHU leads the series two games to one with the Pioneers posting a 71-53 win in the 2001-02 season opener.
