Pioneers Set to Host Hofstra
12/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 10, 2004
Sacred Heart vs. Hofstra Game Notes in PDF Format
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GAME 6 Hofstra University (2-3, 0-0 CAA) vs. Sacred Heart University (3-2, 1-0 NEC)Saturday, December 11, 2004 2:00 pm EST William H. Pitt Center (2,100) Fairfield, CT Officials: Robert Csigi, Larry Savo, James Alu
The Storyline... The Pioneer women's basketball team puts it's 19-game home winning streak on the line Saturday afternoon hosting the Pride of Hofstra University. Today marks the first meeting between the two teams as the Pioneers look to rebound from a 69-59 loss at Columbia last time out. Hofstra is also looking to get back on track and pickup their first road win of the year after coming up short in their last three outings. Sacred Heart has relied heavily on the scoring punch of junior Nicolle Rubino and sophomores Amanda Pape and Kerri Burke in the early going to fuel their offense. All three are averaging double digits and each have scored in double figures in four of the five games they played this year.
TV/Radio/Internet: Tonight's game will be broadcast live on WHRT 91.5 FM. Jeff Holtz, the voice of Pioneer athletics, and Gene Gumbs, SHU Assistant Athletic Director for Communication, will call the action. The game can also be heard on the Internet through the Sacred Heart University website, SacredHeartPioneers.com, and clicking on the audio link on the schedule at the bottom of the front page.
Series... This afternoon's game marks the first meeting between Sacred Heart and Hofstra.
Scouting the Pride... The Hofstra University women's basketball team is out to a 2-3 start to the season and enter today's games looking to snap a three-game slide. The Pride are coming off a 64-57 loss on Thursday night to UMass and have lost both of their road games this season, at St. John's and at Fordham. Hofstra has three players averaging double figures early on in Cigi McCollin, Vanessa Gidden and Lizanne Murphy. McCollin leads all scorers with a 15.6 scoring average while Gidden averages 13.0 points and 8.1 rebounds per contest with a team-best 10 blocks. Murphy is averaging a double-double with 10.0 points and 11.4 rebounds per game. She is the team's top shooter hitting 44.1% (19-53) from the field and 35.7% (5-14) from behind the arc. As a team, the Pride welcomed back three starters and six letterwinners from last season's 14-14 squad that finished second in the Colonial Athletic Conference with an 11-7 mark. Hofstra was picked to finish 5th in the CAA this season and senior forward Amaka Agugua was selected to the first team 2004-05 CAA Preseason All-Conference Team. She is slated to return to action later this season due to off-season surgery.
The Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU '89) enters his 15th season as head coach at his alma matar. Swanson posts a 215-178 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have a 88-59 record since joining the Division I ranks in 1999-00. Swanson is the program's longest tenured coach and is the all-time leader in coaching wins, (215) and winning percentage (.540). He also earned his first ever NEC Brenda Reilly Coach of the Year award after guiding SHU to a school record 21 wins last season. Felisha Legette-Jack (Syracuse `89) is in her third season at the helm of the Hofstra women's basketball program. She has compiled a 24-38 record in her three years as the Pride head coach.
Pioneers vs. the CAA... The Pioneers are 0-2 all-time against teams from the Colonial Athletic Conference. SHU's both losses have come at the hands of Virginia Commonwealth. The two teams met for the first time on December 22, 1998 in Richmond with the Rams posting an impressive 86-58 win. In the return match-up a year later in Fairfield, the Pioneers held their own before falling in overtime, 87-84.
Sacred Heart in the Northeast Conference... Sacred Heart became a member of the Northeast Conference during the 1999-00 season and since that time posted an 88-59 overall and 62-29 conference record. The Pioneers have qualified for the NEC Tournament each of their five seasons in the league and have never finished lower than third in the final league standings. SHU is coming off their most successful year in the conference, where they finished with 14 wins and the second seed in the tournament.
No Place Like the Pitt... The Pioneers will look to continue their winning ways in the friendly confines of the Pitt Center this season. How friendly you ask? The Pioneers finished a perfect 14-0 at home last year and are currently riding a 19-game regular season winning streak at home that dates back to 2002-03. Their last regular season loss was to St. Francis (PA) in February of 2003 (66-63 OT). SHU dropped an NEC Tournament game to Long Island at the Pitt Center as the tournament's host during that year. The Pioneers are 54-12 at home since joining the NEC and 74-14 since the building opened in 1997. The Pitt Center currently ranks 11th in the nation as the toughest arena for opponents to earn a win.
Pioneers Logging Major Minutes... Three Pioneers have started this season averaging over 30 minutes per contest. Sophomore Amanda Pape leads the team logging 36.4 minutes per game. She is followed by junior Nicolle Rubino at 34.2 minutes and sophomore Kerri Burke at 33.8 minutes. Senior Colleen White isn't far behind at 27.6 minutes per game this year.
SHU's Offensive Triple Threat... The Pioneers are currently on top of the NEC in scoring offense at 65.6 points per game thanks to the tremendous scoring output of junior Nicolle Rubino and sophomores Amanda Pape and Kerri Burke. The trio have combined to average a collective 41.6 points this season or roughly 63.4% of SHU's offensive production. Rubino is tops with a 15.0 scoring average followed by Pape at 13.4 ppg and Burke at 13.2 ppg.
Kerri Burke on top of her game... Sophomore point guard Kerri Burke is piling up some big numbers early on this season. The sophomore point guard scored a career-best 15 last Tuesday night against Rider and then matched that number in the first half alone against Mount St. Mary's Saturday afternoon. Burke finished the game with 23 to lead SHU to a 84-66 win over the Mount while playing a career-high 39 minutes. She is third on the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game while shooting 50.0% (10-20) from three with a team-best 23 assists.
Burke...In a Sharing Mood... Kerri Burke passed out a career-best 11 assists in Wednesday's loss at Columbia becoming just the second Pioneer in the last 18 years to record double digit assists in a game. Last season, Kate Maher handed out a career-high 10 assists against Robert Morris to become the first player to reach double figures in assists since Julie Hogan recorded 14 against Bridgeport on February 24, 1986.
Rubino...Quick out of the Gates... Junior Nicolle Rubino has been the Pioneers main offensive weapon in the first four games this season. Rubino is averaging 15.0 points early on and has been a steady force behind the arc hitting nine-of- 22 and at the free throw line hitting 12-of-15. She currently ranks fifth in scoring in the NEC, seventh in assists (17), sixth in steals (10) and seventh in three-point percentage (40.9%).
Amanda Pape...Racking up the Points... Sophomore Amanda Pape put up back to back 18 point performances in two Sacred Heart wins last week and scored 13 in the Columbia loss giving her four double digit games on the year.
Pape...A Master Theif... Amanda Pape has been up to her old tricks on the year, leading the conference in steals at 2.80 per game (14). She led the Pioneers last season in take aways with 75 that put her second overall in the NEC. She made a season-high six steals in the win over Rider last week.
Duggan's Block Party... Senior Colleen Duggan reached a career-milestone in last Tuesday's win over Rider. Duggan picked up her 100th career blocked shot early in the first half and finished with three swats on the night. The 6-2 center led the NEC in blocks last season with 50 and is currently tied for second with six this year. She also holds the school record for blocks in a game with seven against Lafayette in 2002.
Pioneer Sharp-Shooting... The Pioneers are once again at the tops of the NEC in three-point shooting. SHU is hitting a league best 43.8% (21-38) from behind the arc and boasts two of the leagues best from long range in Nicolle Rubino and Kerri Burke. Rubino is hitting 40.9% (9-22) while Burke has buried 50.0% (10-20) from downtown, including a career-high five versus Rider. The Pioneers finished last season as the top ranked team in the NEC in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting .376 (159-423). BIG Wins... Just five games into this season and the Pioneers look to be continuing their trend of winning games by a double digit margin. 18 of SHU's 21 wins came by 10 or more points last season and the Pioneers three wins this season have been by 13 (Yale), 14 (Rider) and 18 (Mt. St. Mary's). In fact, SHU's margin of victory over the past two plus seasons have been so great that the Pioneers have won just 10 games by less than 10 points since the start of 2002-03.
