SHU Travels to St. Francis-PA - Game Notes
12/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 8, 2005
Complete Sacred Heart vs. St. Francis (PA) Game Notes in PDF Format
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The Storyline... The Pioneers head back out on the road after a 2-0 homestand to face the St. Francis (PA) Red Flash Saturday afternoon. Sacred Heart has won just once in Loretto in their six year's in the Northeast Conference as the look to pickup their fourth-straight win on the year and stay perfect in league play. The Red Flash come in looking for their first win of 2005-06 after an 0-7 start. This afternoon's game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports WWCP in Pittsburgh and on Cablevision of Norwalk, CT. Paul Dottino will call the play-by-play with Pam Roecker providing color analysis for the broadcast and Amy Lundy reporting from the sidelines.
The Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU '89) enters his 16th season as head coach at his alma mater. Swanson posts a 233-188 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have an 107-69 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, (233) 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. Jill Poe (West Virginia `89) is in her third season at the helm of the St. Francis (PA) women's basketball program. She has a 46-23 (.667) career record in her three years as the Red Flash head coach and overall. Her Red Flash are coming off a 21-10 record a year ago and their second-straight NEC title under her leadership .
Series... St. Francis (PA) leads the all-time series, 6-3 and have won five-straight over the Pioneers. The Red Flash swept both meetings last season, winning 89-69 on their home court and 64-55 in Fairfield. The Red Flash are responsible for the Pioneers worst NEC defeat since joining the conference, a 32 points loss, 87-55, during the 2003-04 season in Loretto. The Pioneers have won just once on the DeGol Arena floor, during the 2000-01 season (67-60) and are 1-4 lifetime in the building. To say Loretto hasn't been kind to the Pioneers is putting it nicely, all four SHU losses have come by an average of 23.3 points.
SHU in the NEC... Sacred Heart became a member of the Northeast Conference during the 1999-00 season and since that time has posted an 108-68 overall and 75-33 conference record. SHU is coming off their second-straight 14-4 season in conference play where they matched their best-ever finish of 2003-04. SHU was the second seed in the NEC Tournament for the second consecutive season and have reached the post season tournament in each of their six seasons in the league, never finishing lower than third in the final league standings.
Last Meeting with St. Francis-PA... The St. Francis (PA) Red Flash handed the Pioneers their first conference loss at home since 2003, a streak that spanned 19-straight games, as they posted a 64-55 win at the Pitt Center on February 17, 2005. The Red Flash went up 17-8 in the early minutes fueled by a 15-5 run. SHU cut it to 21-19, but senior center Beth Swink scored six straight points to give the Red Flash back an eight-point advantage on their way to a 31-25 halftime lead. The reigning NEC Player of the Year had a monster half, scoring 16 points on six-of-11 shooting. The Pioneers used an 8-2 run to get back within two, 41-39 but the Red Flash would answer with a 9-0 run to take an 11-point lead, 50-39, with 8:06 to play, a lead the Pioneers would never seriously threaten the rest of the way. Swink finished with a game-high 24 points, hitting a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw. The Pioneers received 15 points and seven rebounds from Amanda Pape in the loss.
Scouting the Red Flash... The St. Francis (PA) women's basketball team entered this season coming off their fourth-straight NEC title but have struggled against a tough schedule to sit winless at 0-7 heading into their first league contest. The Red Flash have taken on some big name teams to start the year, falling to Oregon, Michigan, Cincinnati, Bowling Green and Toledo. SFPA had to replace four starters from last season's 21-10 club. Senior Amber Hein is the Red Flash's lone returning starter and has played well averaging 13.9 points while leading the team in assists (19) and steals (13). She has also shot the ball well from three, hitting 44.0% (11-25) from downtown. St. Francis (PA) was picked to finish fourth in the 2005-06 NEC Preseason Coaches Poll.
Last time out... The Pioneers forced 24 turnovers and held the visiting St. Francis (NY) Terriers to just 32.2% shooting to pick up a 69-51 win in the Northeast Conference opener for both teams Wednesday evening. SHU turned the 24 Terrier turnovers into 26 points at the other end to improve to 4-1 on the year. The Pioneers got off to a shaky start, falling behind 8-2 in the early going and trailed 17-14 with 8:23 to go in the half. Thanks to their full court pressure, SHU began to shake the rust off and take control of the game, closing the half on a 21-7 run, including the final nine points, to lead 37-24 at the break. SHU put the game away by the half way point of the second half using an 11-4 run that gave them a 23-point lead. SHU got a season-high 26 points from junior Amanda Pape who finished seven-of-12 from the field and 11-of-13 from the free throw line. Nicolle Rubino added 14 points along with a season-high six steals. Jasmine Walker grabbed 12 rebounds in the win, marking the third straight game she had at least 10 rebounds. The Terriers got a double double from Tiffany Hill with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Ready...Set...Go!... Out of the gates in 2005-06, the Pioneers are 4-1 in the early going heading into a pair of NEC games this week. SHU 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.
Streaks and Trends... Sacred Heart picked up a 69-51 win over St. Francis (NY) on Wednesday night, extending their winning streak to 11-straight over the Terriers. The Pioneers have never lost to SFNY since joining the conference in 1999-00. SHU will be out to snap a streak when the take the court in Loretto, Pennsylvania on Saturday. SHU has lost five straight to the Red Flash and has won just once in Loretto since joining the conference.
D-Fence...D-Fence...D-Fence... The Pioneer's 4-1 start can be credited much in part to their league leading defense. SHU's patented full-court pressure has led to 11.0 steals per game and opposing team's averaging 19.6 turnovers. Sacred Heart has done well to protect the ball themselves, posting the best turnover margin in the league at +3.80. The Pioneers are holding teams to just 35.6% shooting from the field, 23.5% from three-point range and just 58.2 points per game, all tops in the league thus far.
Road Warriors... The Pioneers opened the season with three-straight games on the road and will play seven of their first nine games away from home. The Pioneers just finished up their two-game homestand and are back on the road for the rest of the month with stops at St. Francis-PA, Iona, Ohio State and Rider. The new year will be welcomed by four-straight in the friendly confines of the Pitt Center.
SHU's 1,000-Point Club... On Thursday, December 1st, senior Nicolle Rubino became just the 10th player in Sacred Heart history to reach the 1,000-point plateau for her career. Rubino entered the Yale game needing just four point to break the mark and wasted little time in doing just that, scoring twice on the Pioneers first three possessions. She currently ranks 10th on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,025 points. Quickly rocketing up the list is junior Amanda Pape, who should also eclipse the mark later this season. Pape has 961 points, moving her in front of Brooke Rutnik (941) and into 11th place on the all-time list. 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.
Pape Leading the NEC... Junior guard Amanda Pape has kicked her game up a notch this season and is among the NEC leaders in several offensive categories. Pape leads the league in scoring at 18.2 points per game and is coming off a season-high 26 points against St. Francis (NY). She has improved her shooting, hitting 51.8% (29-56) from the field, second in the league. The 5-9 guard continues to be a force on the glass, pulling down 7.0 rebounds per game with 16 offensive boards. Pape's defensive intensity is the key to SHU's press with 11 steals and she has improved her passing with 11 assists as well.
Rubino Leading the Way ... Senior Nicolle Rubino is off to a fast start to her final season in the Red & White. The senior co-captain is averaging 12.2 points per game but has also made contributions all over the court. Rubino leads the team with 13 steals, six coming in Wednesday's win, while also chipping in on the glass with 3.6 boards per game. She is also a tremendous passer, handing out 15 assists thus far against just nine turnovers, putting her second in the NEC in assist/turnover ratio.
Solid at the Charity Stripe... The Pioneers are shooting 72.5% from the free throw line, second in the league. SHU has hit 103 of 142 free throws and are led by Amanda Pape who has gotten to the line a league best 46 times. Junior Mary Rush is the team's best shooter, hitting 92.9% (13-14).
SHU Struggling from Three... The Pioneers have yet to shoot over 35.0% from behind the three-point arc in any game this year. SHU is last in the league in three-point percentage at 20.8% (15-72). Sacred Heart was 4th in the NEC in 2004-05, hitting 33.9% (123-363) from long range on the year.
Deep Bench... SHU used every available player on their bench for the fourth straight game Wednesday night against St. Francis (NY). Freshman center Kaitlin Sowkinski and her classmate, guard Liz Gruber, are averaging the most minutes off the bench at 15.8 and 12.6, respectively. Sophomore Lisa Moray is right with them at 12.4 minutes per contest.
Walker Cleaning the Glass... Junior Jasmine Walker has been a force on the boards this season, pulling down 8.2 rebounds per game, 3rd in the NEC. Walker is coming off her third-straight game with at least 10 rebounds after snatching a season-high 12 caroms Wednesday night against the Terriers. Walker has struggled shooting the ball of late but has still managed to score, averaging 8.6 points per game.
