Pioneers Travel to Hofstra - Game Notes
11/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 21, 2005
Complete Sacred Heart vs. Hofstra Game Notes in PDF Format
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The Storyline... The Pioneers head to Hofstra University Tuesday night to face the Pride after an impressive 65-49 win over Providence to open the season. SHU earned it's first-ever victory over the Big East since joining the ranks of Division I six years ago. Junior center Jasmine Walker dominated inside for the Pioneers, shooting seven-of-11 from the floor for a career-high 17 points in 38 minutes, also a career high. Preseason All-NEC pick Amanda Pape picked-up right were she left off last year, pouring in 15 points with seven rebounds, both numbers she averaged over 29 games last season. The Pioneers are looking for a better result facing the Pride this season after battling back from a 10-point deficit but coming up short in the final seconds at home last year.
The Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU '89) enters his 16th season as head coach at his alma mater. Swanson posts a 231-187 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have an 105-68 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, (231) and winning percentage (.553). He also earned his first ever NEC Brenda Reilly Coach of the Year award after guiding SHU to a school record 21 wins in 2003-04. Felisha Legette-Jack (Syracuse `89) is in her fourth season at the helm of the Hofstra women's basketball program. She has compiled a 35-52 record in her four years as the Pride head coach. Legette-Jack is the 10th head coach in Pride women's basketball history.
Series... The Pride lead the all-time series, 1-0. The two schools met for the first time last season with Hofstra coming away with a 67-66 win in Fairfield, Connecticut. The Pride's Cigi McCollin banked home the game-winning shot with two seconds on the clock to snap the Pioneer's 19-game home winning streak, the 7th longest in the nation at the time.
Pioneers vs. the CAA... The Pioneers are 0-3 all-time against teams from the Colonial Athletic Conference. Sacred Heart loss to Hofstra last season, 67-66 while the other two losses have come at the hands of Virginia Commonwealth. The Pioneers and Rams met for the first time on December 22, 1998 in Richmond with VCU 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.
Last Meeting with Hofstra... Hofstra University's Cigi McCollin banked home the game-winning shot with just two seconds on the clock to send the visiting Pride home 67-66 winners over Sacred Heart. The loss snapped the Pioneer's 19-game home winning streak, a mark that was the seventh longest in the nation heading into the game. Vanessa Gidden, from Stamford, Conn., led her team with 19 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, the eighth most in any game by a Pride player. She also blocked three shots and made two steals in the win. McCollin finished with 17 points and six rebounds along with four steals. As a team, the Pride turned the ball over 28 times but held a distinct rebounding advantage, 48-35, on the afternoon. SHU's Amanda Pape led the Pioneers with 22 points on eight-of-17 shooting. Pape picked up her first double double of the year by grabbing 10 rebounds while also making five steals. Sophomore Kerri Burke finished with 16 points with six assists while Colleen White had a season-best 12 points with four steals in the losing effort.
Scouting the Pride... The Hofstra Pride opened their season last week losing to Fordham at home, 63-53. The Pride returned nine players including four starters to this year's team after finishing 13-16 and 7-11 in the Colonial Athletic Association last season. Returning to lead the offense is a pair of juniors in guard Cigi McCollin and center Vanessa Gidden. McCollin led the team in scoring at 16.2 points per game last season. Gidden, a Stamford, Connecticut product, averaged 14.4 points and 8.4 rebounds for the Pride in 2004-05. Returning to the court this season is senior Amaka Agugua who missed all of last season with an injury. Agugua led the Pride in scoring and rebounding during the 2003-04 season at 12.0 and 6.5 per game. She shot a school record 56.0% from the field during that season. The Pride enter this season picked to finish fifth in the 12 team CAA in the preseason coaches poll.
Last time out... The Pioneers opened the 2005-06 season Friday night posting a 65-49 win over Providence College and in the process earned their first win at Division I over a team from the Big East Conference. The Pioneers were led by junior center Jasmine Walker who posted a career-high 17 points while playing a career-high 38 minutes to pace SHU to its first win of the year. Pape finished with 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds and three steals. Senior Nicolle Rubino was also in double figures with 13. Walker, who led with 17, scored 11 in the second half and finished with five boards. The Pioneers played strong defensively, forcing 21 turnovers and holding the Friars to just 31.0% (18-58) shooting from the field. Making her first appearance in over a year, junior Mary Rush finished with six points while getting the starting nod. Kerri Burke finished with six points and tied her career high with seven rebounds.
Road Warriors... The Pioneers will pack their bags and hit the open road to start the season and close out the 2005 calender year. SHU will play seven of their first nine games away from home. The season got under way with a win at Providence last Friday and the SHU bus will roll out again this week with pit stops at Hofstra and Syracuse. The Pioneers home opener will take place on Dec. 1st against Yale followed by St. Francis-NY paying a visit on the 7th. From there, it's back on the road again for stops at St. Francis-PA, Iona, Ohio State and Rider closing out the month of December. The new year will be welcomed by four-straight in the friendly confines of the Pitt Center.
Ready...Set...Go!... For the fifth time in SHU's six years in Division I the Pioneers started a season on the road. SHU is 2-3 in those contests with two-straight road wins after Friday night's victory over the Friars. SHU is 9-9 all-time in season openers away from home. Sacred Heart has enjoyed strong starts to their seasons the past three years, jumping out at 4-1 last year, 5-1 in 2003-04 and 4-1 in 2002-03. In their first six years at the Division I level, the Pioneers have a 4-3 record in season opening games. SHU is 17-15 all-time in season openers.
Inching toward 1,000... Senior Nicolle Rubino is just 23 points away from reaching the 1,000-point plateau for her career, a mark that only nine other Pioneers in school history have reached. Rubino currently ranks 10th on the school's all-time scoring list with 977 points, ahead Brooke Rutnik (`03) with 941. Quickly rocketing up the list is junior Amanda Pape, who should also eclipse the mark later this season. Pape has 885 points after her first two season's in a Pioneer uniform, placing her 14th on the all-time list. The last Pioneer to break the 1,000-point barrier was Brooke Kelly (`03) during the 2002-03 season. Kelly finished her career with 1,349 points, third all-time.
