Pioneers Stay In State to Face Yale Saturday
11/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2006
Sacred Heart vs. Yale Game Notes in PDF Format
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Sacred Heart Pioneers (1-3, 0-0 NEC) vs. Yale Bulldogs (1-3, 0-0 Ivy League)
Game #5 - Saturday, November 25, 2006 - 4:30 pm - New Haven, Conn. - John J. Lee Amphitheater (2,532)
Radio - WICC 600 AM
The Storyline... The Pioneer women's basketball team makes a stop at Yale University for the middle game of a three-game Ivy League road trip as they take on the Bulldogs after dropping two-straight. The Pioneers and Bulldog renew their annual instate rivalry Saturday afternoon at the John J. Lee Amphitheater in New Haven. SHU makes it's final Ivy stop next Tuesday facing Columbia. The Pioneers are looking to rebound off a 70-63 loss to Brown on Tuesday where the Bulldogs are riding high of their first-win of the season at Fairfield, 75-67.
Series... Sacred Heart holds an 8-3 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools. The Pioneers have won the last seven meetings dating back to the 1999-00 season, SHU's first in Division I. The Pioneers kept the streak alive last season, posting a 74-51 win over the Bulldogs at home on December 1st. Saturday's game marks the eighth-straight year the two Connecticut schools will meet. The two teams met for the first time during the 1976-77 season with the Bulldogs posting an 85-40 win in the Small College Tournament. The Elis also posted wins in the series during the 1977-78 and the 1979-80 seasons.
The Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU `89) enters his 17th season as head coach at his alma mater. Swanson posts a 257-195 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have a 131-76 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, (257) and winning percentage (.569). He also earned his first ever NEC Brenda Reilly Coach of the Year award after guiding SHU to a then school record 21 wins in 2003-04. Chris Gobrecht (Southern California `77) is in her second season at the helm of the Yale University women's basketball program. Gobrecht has a 4-27 (.129) record in her two years as the head coach of the Bulldogs and amassed a 429-328 (.567) mark in her 27 years as a head coach.
Last Time Out... Brown used 29 points from senior Ashley King-Bischof to overcome a 31-28 Sacred Heart lead at the half on the way to a 70-63 win Tuesday night. The Pioneers were out scored 42-32 in the second half, hitting just eight shots and being out rebounded 20-16. Junior Lisa Moray finished the game with a career-high 23 points, shooting seven-of-12 from behind the three-point arc. Sophomore Kaitlin Sowinski put up 21 points, making 13-of-14 at the charity stripe, both career-high marks. As a team, the Pioneers turned the ball over 18 times and shot just 31.6% (18-57) from the field. SHU did hit 20-of-25 at the free throw line in the losing cause. Brown's King-Bischof shot 11-of-17 from the field and pulled down eight rebounds. The Bears shot 48.3% (29-60) and outscored SHU in the paint 30-20.
Pioneers vs. the Ivy League... The Pioneers are 16-12 all-time versus the teams from the Ivy League. Sacred Heart has faced every teams in the league with the exception of the University of Pennsylvania. SHU has faced in state rival Yale the most of any school, holding an 8-3 series lead including seven-straight wins. The Pioneers hold a 3-2 lead over Columbia and a 2-0 lead over Princeton. The Pioneers lost, 70-63 at Brown on Tuesday that evened that series at 3-3. SHU has faced Cornell and Dartmouth each just once, losing both games.
Scouting the Bulldogs... The Yale Bulldogs picked up their first win of the season Tuesday night, beating Fairfield 75-67 at the Arena at Harbor Yard. The Bulldogs got 25 points and eight rebounds from their senior center, Erica Davis. Yale returned 12 players including all five starters from last year's team that finished 3-24 overall and 2-12 in the Ivy League. The Bulldogs lost their first three games to open this season before Tuesday's win, falling to Holy Cross (68-56), DePaul (86-60) and Stony Brook (71-69). Davis has led the Bulldogs in the early going this season, scoring 16.3 points with 8.0 boards per game. Senior forward Chinenye Okafor, last year's leading scorer, is averaging 11.5 points and 9.3 rebounds. Yale was picked to finish eighth in the Ivy League Preseason Media Poll.
Last Meeting with Yale... Senior Nicolle Rubino became the 10th member of Sacred Heart Women's Basketball 1,000-Point Club as the Pioneers posted a 74-51 win over visiting Yale in their 2005-06 home opener on December 1, 2005. Rubino finished with 15 points leading SHU. Yale stayed in it during the early going, trailing by just three, 17-14 just under 13 minutes in but an 18-5 run over the next eight minutes put the game out of reach and SHU led 45-27 at the break. The Pioneers shot 53.3% (16-30) in the first half while Amanda Pape keyed the SHU defense with five steals. The Pioneers forced the Bulldogs into 14 turnovers which SHU turned into 21 points. The second half saw the Pioneers lead balloon to 23 points just three minutes in as junior Pape converted a lay-up and four free throws on her way to a game-high 17 points. SHU's largest lead was 25 points, 62-37, with just over 10 minutes to go. Pape's 17 was complemented by her five first half steals, four rebounds and three assists. Jasmine Walker just missed a double double with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Yale got 15 points from Kaitlyn Lillemoe who scored 15 points.
Streaks, Trends, Milestones, Notes... The Pioneers are 1-3 to open a season for the first time since 2000-01 when they lost their first three games and beat Yale in the fourth game of the season.
Senior Amanda Pape has struggled offensively through the first four games, shooting just 21.8% (12-55) from the field. She leads the team with 13 assists but also has a team-high 15 turnovers.
Pape saw her streak of 26-straight games in double figures fall to the wayside Tuesday night. The senior captain finished just three-of-14 from the field for six points. She has scored in double digits in 41 of her last 43 games.
Pape failed to get to the foul line in Tuesday's loss at Brown, marking the first time in the senior's career she hasn't shot at least one free throw in a game. A streak that spanned 91-straight games.
Sophomore Kaitlin Sowinski continued to put up impressive offensive numbers and is coming off a career-high night at Brown. Sowinski scored a career-topping 21 points while hitting 13-of-14 at the free throw line, also career marks. She currently leads the team at 11.5 points per game.
Junior Lisa Moray drew her second start of the season Tuesday night and played a career-high 36 minutes. Moray made the most of her time, scoring a career-best 23 points, hitting seven-of-12 from behind the three-point arc, one three off the school record of eight.
Senior Kerri Burke was limited to 14 minutes, all in the first half, due to a back injury. The senior point guard is considered day-to-day and a game time decision.
The loss at Brown opened a three-game road trip against the Ivy League. SHU is now 3-3 against the Bears and 16-12 all-time versus Ivy schools.
Senior Jasmie Walker's 10 rebounds at Brown has moved her to sixth on the all-time list with 651 career boards.
Pioneers Ink Four in Early Signing Period... Sacred Heart University women's basketball head coach Ed Swanson announced today that four student athletes have signed National Letters-of-Intent during the early signing period. Guards Maggie Cosgrove (Andover, MA / Andover H.S.) and Alisa Apo (Freehold, NJ / St. John Vianney H.S.) and forwards Lindsey Greenlee (Cedarburg, WI / Cedarburg H.S.) and Maureen Reilly (Cherry Hill, NJ / Paul VI H.S.) have signed letters and will join the Pioneers in the fall of 2007. "With this incoming class we feel we have filled our needs with a solid group of talented athletes," stated Swanson. "They each fit the mold of what we look for in a complete student-athlete."
