Pioneers Travel to Rider - Game Notes
12/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2005
Complete Sacred Heart vs. Rider Game Notes in PDF Format
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The Storyline... The Pioneers are back in action and looking to bounce back after an 84-50 defeat at sixth-ranked Ohio State last Tuesday. SHU saw their five-game winning streak snapped by the Buckeye's, the highest ranked team the Pioneers have ever faced. Sacred Heart closes out a four-game road swing this evening and will return home for four-straight next week. The Pioneers have played seven of their first nine games away from the William H. Pitt Center, where they are 86-19 in it's eight year history. Despite missing the cozy comforts of home the Pioneers are off to their best start in program history at 6-2.
The Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU '89) enters his 16th season as head coach at his alma mater. Swanson posts a 236-189 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have a 110-70 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, (236) and winning percentage (.555). 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. Tori Harrison (Louisiana Tech `87) is in her second season at the helm of the Rider women's basketball program. She has a 9-28 (.243) record in her two years as the Broncs coach and a 70-105 (.667) mark in her seven years as a head coach. As a player, Harrison twice guided Louisiana Tech to the NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four.
Series... The Pioneers hold a 1-0 edge in the all-time series between the two schools. The two teams met for the first time on November 30, 2004 in Fairfield, Connecticut with the Pioneers posting a 71-57 win. The game was the home opener for Sacred Heart last season.
Pioneers vs. the MAAC... The Pioneers are 7-16 all-time versus teams from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. SHU is 1-0 thus far this season after an 79-78 win at Iona. Last season marked the first time in SHU's Division I history that the Pioneers faced a team from the league. The Pioneers have faced Fairfield University more than any other team from the MAAC, posting a 4-7 record against the Stags. Iona holds a 5-2 mark over Sacred Heart. St. Peter's College is the only other team the Pioneers have faced from the league with the Peacocks 4-0 all-time against SHU.
Last Meeting with Rider... The Pioneers ran their regular season home winning streak to 19-straight with a 71-57 win over Rider University on November 30th last season. The Pioneers got a game-high 18 points from sophomore Amanda Pape. SHU set the tone early, storming out of the gates to a 12-0 lead just under four minutes into the game. The Pioneer lead grew to 16 at 23-7 with just over 10 minutes to go in the half and it looked as if SHU would be headed to an easy win. Rider, refusing to go quietly, began to chip away and cut to the within seven, 31-24, at the two minute mark. The Broncs, despite turning the ball over 13 times in the half, stayed in the game shooting 40.0% (10-25) and came out of the break with an offensive run of their own. Rider sliced the SHU lead to five, 35-30, just over a minute into play. That would be as close as Rider would come as the Pioneers answered with a 16-8 run over the next six minutes to take control and run away with the win. Kerri Burke turned in a then career-high 15 points, hitting five-of-seven from behind the three point arc. For Rider, Becky Hower finished with 15 points, hitting three-of-five from downtown with five rebounds. As a team, Rider shot just 36.4% (20-55) and turned the ball over a total of 23 times.
Scouting the Broncs... The Broncs enter Thursday's game searching for their first win after an 0-8 start to 2005-06. Rider has been off for 15 days after losing to Princeton, 67-63, on December 14th. Junior guard Kara Borel is the Broncs leading scorer and rebounder averaging 9.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game through eight games. Sophomore Janele Henderson is scoring 8.9 points per game and is one of the team's top-shooters from long range hitting 33.3% (7-21). The Broncs were picked to finish 10th in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Last time out... Ohio State's junior All-American candidate Jessica Davenport led all scorers with 19 points to lead her sixth-ranked Buckeyes to an 84-40 win over visiting Sacred Heart. The Pioneers, facing the highest ranked team they have ever played since joining the Division I ranks in 1999, missed their first eight shots before freshman Kaitlin Sowinski hit a jumper from in the paint. SHU cut the lead under 10, 18-9, at the 12 minute mark but it would be all Ohio State from there as the Buckeye's used a quick 11-2 run to go up 19 and then outscored the Pioneers 18-9 over the last eight minutes of the half to lead 47-21 at the break. The second half got underway with the Pioneer's Amanda Pape reaching a career milestone. Pape broke the 1,000 point plateau on a lay-up with 16:24 on the clock to become the 11th player in Sacred Heart history to join the exclusive club. The Pioneers finished with a season-high 29 turnovers which OSU used to score 29 points. Nicolle Rubino was the Pioneers top scorer with 13 points.
Best Start Ever... Out of the gates in 2005-06, the Pioneers are 6-2, their best-ever start to a season. Sacred Heart was 5-1 during the record setting 21-8 season in 2003-04 and the 16-13 1992-93 season. Their last 6-2 star came during the 1995-96 season and no Sacred Heart team has ever been 7-2 to start a year.
Streaks, Trends and Milestones... The Pioneers had their five game winning streak snapped last time out, losing to Ohio State 84-40. The five-game streak matched the longest streak from last season. The school record for consecutive wins is 10-straight, set during the 2003-04 season. The 44-point loss is the second largest defeat in SHU's seven year Division I history. The Pioneers lost by 45 at Boston College in 2003-04 (94-49). Amanda Pape Pape finished with seven points and had her streak of double digit scoring games stopped at 15-straight.
Rubino and Pape... NEC Award Winners... Senior Nicolle Rubino and junior Amanda Pape were named Choice Hotels Northeast Conference Players of the Week in consecutive weeks. Rubino takes home the honor after her career-high 27 point performance in SHU's win over Iona. Pape earned the honor after a 26 point effort against St. Francis-NY and an 18 point game against St. Francis-PA. This marks the first time in program history that two separate players have won the award in consecutive weeks and in the same season. Only three Pioneers have ever earned the honor in the seven years SHU has been a member of the league. Pape, Rubino and program alum Brooke Kelly (1999-03).
SHU's 1,000-Point Club... Two Pioneers have joined the Sacred Heart women's basketball 1,000 point club this season. On Thursday, December 1st, senior Nicolle Rubino became the 10th player in Sacred Heart history to reach the 1,000-point plateau for her career and teammate Amanda Pape broke the mark last time out against Ohio State. Rubino currently ranks 9th on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,080 points. Pape, is now in 11th place overall with 1,002 points. The last Pioneer to break the 1,000-point barrier prior to Rubino was Brooke Kelly (`03) during the 2002-03 season. Kelly finished her career with 1,349 points, third all-time.
