Pioneer Women's Basketball Rolls Past UMass, 61-46
11/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 21, 2003
FAIRFIELD, CT - Sophomore guard Nicolle Rubino scored 14 points on six of 11 shooting, while freshman Amanda Pape scored 12 points her in her collegiate debut to lead the Sacred Heart University women's basketball team to a 61-46 win over the University of Massachusetts in the season opener for both teams.
The win was an historic one for the Pioneers, marking the first time in four tries they had been able to defeat an Atlantic 10 opponent.
UMass jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first 1:30 on a jumper by Tamara Tatham and a three-pointer from Judit Zsedenyi. The Pioneers dug in defensively and chipped away at the Minutewoman lead. A 12-foot jumper by junior Colleen Duggan with 12:41 left in the first half gave the Pioneers an 8-7 lead.
After the teams traded baskets the next two times down the floor, the Pioneer tied the score at 11-11 on a free throw by freshman Jasmine Walker. A pair of free throws by junior Colleen White with 9:25 left in the half - a lead the Pioneers would never relinquish. Sacred Heart would build on that lead and take a 30-19 lead into the intermission.
Rubino hit a bucket for the Pioneers to start the second half to push the lead to 32-19, but UMass showed it still had life by going on a 17-5 run over the next six minutes to close within a point a 37-36 with 13:15 to play.
Sacred Heart, however, ran off the next seven points over a five-minute span to widen the gap to 44-36. Freshman guard Kerri Burke started the run with a jumper and senior Shannon Quinlivan canned at three with 9:52 left. Pape finished off the run by stealing the ball and going in for an easy layup with 8:57 to play.
Tatham led UMass with ten points, while Zsedenyi finished with nine.
In addition to her 12 points, Pape led the Pioneers with six rebounds.
