SHU Travels to Saint Peter's Wednesday Night
12/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 19, 2006
Sacred Heart vs. Saint Peter's Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Sacred Heart Pioneers (4-5, 1-0 NEC) vs. Saint Peter's Peahens (5-3, 1-1 MAAC)
Game #10 - Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - 7:00 pm - Jersey City, N.J. - Yanitelli Center (3,200)
The Storyline... The Pioneers make their first visit to Saint Peter's College since the 1997-98 season looking to erase the memories of Sunday's 60-55 loss at Albany. SHU trailed the entire game, digging themselves as much as a 19-point deficit in the second half before stagging a late rally. Poor shooting in the first half however, 17.2%, dug the Pioneers a hole far too deep to claw out of as SHU lost their second-straight road game and their third in the last four. Sacred Heart will face the Peahens in a home-at-home re-match from last season before taking a week off for the holiday's. Saint Peter's will be looking to return to their winning ways after dropping their MAAC opener at Siena last time out, 66-60, snapping a three-game winning streak. The Pioneers return home to the friendly confines of the Pitt Center on December 28th to play host to Stony Brook in a 2:00 pm matinee.
Series... Saint Peter's holds a 4-1 lead in the all-time series between the two schools dating back to the 1980-81 season. The Pioneers picked-up their first win in the series last year, an 82-54 win at home over the Peahens. The first meeting took place on February 17th, 1981 with the Peahens posting an 80-33 win. The two teams met again the following season (Feb. 16) with SPC blasting SHU, 101-42, and then again in 1982-83 (Dec. 13) with another blowout in favor of the Peahens, 107-48. The two team's wouldn't meet again until the 1997-98 season when Sacred Heart made their first trip to Jersey City in the series but the result stayed the same, an 81-53 Saint Peter's win.
The Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU `89) enters his 17th season as head coach at his alma mater. Swanson posts a 260-197 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have a 134-78 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, (260) 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. Stephanie DeWolfe (Saint Peter's `97) is in her third season at the helm of the Saint Peter's College women's basketball program. DeWolfe has a 29-35 (.453) record in her three years as the head coach of the Peahens and overall.
Last Time Out... Sacred Heart shot just 29.2% (19-65) from the field while the University at Albany got a double double from Kristin Higy, 15 points, 13 rebounds, and withstood a late SHU rally to come away with a 60-55 win Sunday afternoon. The Pioneers got 11 points and 11 rebounds from senior forward Jasmine Walker who posted her second double double on the year. The Pioneers endured a dreadful first half where they shot just five-of-29 (17.2%), a season low, and trailed 30-16 at the break. The Pioneer offense was so cold, it played a combined 17 minutes without a field goal. The Great Dane lead peaked at 19 points in the second half and never fell below 15 until the 4:20 mark. SHU turned on the defensive pressure and began to mount a late rally that cut the lead to single digits for the first time all half at the 1:10 mark. The Pioneers used a 9-0 run but could get no closer then six points as UAlbany hit a pair of free throws and made a steal in the closing seconds to seal the win. SHU turned Albany over 12 times in the second half, scoring 17 points of the Great Dane miscues but it wasn't enough. Amanda Pape led all scorers with 16 points, playing all 40 minutes. Kaitlin Sowinski also finished in double digits with 11 points while pulling down six rebounds.
Pioneers vs. the MAAC... The Pioneers are 4-1 all-time against the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. SHU went 3-0 against the league last season with wins at Iona and Rider and at home against Saint Peter's. SHU lost to Iona and beat Rider at home in 2004-05. The Pioneers are 9-16 all-time against schools that are currently in the MAAC. SHU has faced Fairfield University more than any other team from the MAAC, posting a 4-7 record against the Stags during their Division II days. Iona holds a 5-2 mark over Sacred Heart while the Pioneers are 2-0 against Rider. St. Peter's College is the only other team the Pioneers have faced from the league with the Peacocks 4-1 all-time against SHU.
Scouting the Peahens... The Saint Peter's Peaheans saw their three-game winning streak snapped last time out, falling in their MAAC opener, 66-60, on the road at Siena. The Peahens are off to a solid start, posting a 5-3 record including 3-0 at home. Saint Peter's has four players averaging double figures heading into Wednesday's match-up led by Tania Kennedy at 13.1 points per game. Kennedy is the team's top three-point threat hitting a team-high 17 on the year. Johnell Burts is scoring at an 11.6 per game clip while leading the team in assists with 52. Lauma Reke and Natasha Morris are averaging 10.8 and 10.5 points apiece on the year. The Peahens were picked to finish ninth in the MAAC Preseason Poll.
Last Meeting with Saint Peter's... Sacred Heart's Jasmine Walker and Amanda Pape posted double double's and Liz Gruber came off the bench for a game-high 17 points to lead the Pioneers to an 82-54 win over visiting Saint Peter's College on January 2nd. Gruber finished a perfect shooting night seven-of-seven in 15 minutes of action. Gruber's 17 points was a career high while she also grabbed three rebounds and had an assist and a block. Walker posted 10 rebounds with 15 points while also passing out three assists, blocking a shot and making a steal. Pape finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds to match Walker's double double for the second-straight game. As a team, the Pioneers shot 48.4% (30-62) from the field and hit 78.3% (18-23) from the charity striped. The Pioneers outscored Saint Peter's 46-26 in the paint and had 20 points off 15 SPC turnovers. The Peahens got 12 points from Khalisha Lewis and 11 from Johnell Burts. As a team, SPC shot just 3.1% (22-61).
Streaks, Trends, Milestones, Notes... Senior Kerri Burke returned to the starting lineup Sunday at Albany for the first time since the Brown game on November 21st. Burke missed three games with a back injury and returned against Saint Francis (PA), coming off the bench. Burke played 30 minutes in the Albany loss and finished with nine points, five assists and three steals. Burke's five assists ties her season-high and moves her into third place on the all-time career assist list with 329 (ties her with Jessica Bresnahan, `95-`99).
Senior Jasmine Walker posted her second double double this season and the 18th of her career scoring 11 points with 11 rebounds in the loss. Walker's 11 rebounds gives her 692 for her career, moving her past Brooke Kelly ('99-'03) into fifth place on the all-time list.
Sophomore Kaitlin Sowinski found double digits for the seventh-straight game scoring 11 points. She continues to lead the NEC in field goal percentage at 60.8% (45-74).
The Pioneers shot just 17.2% (5-29) in the first half at Albany, marking a season-low mark in the first half. Their 29.2% (19-65) for the game was the second lowest shooting percentage this season. Their season-low was 28.1% (18-64) at Boston College in the season opener.
SHU forced 24 turnovers in the game, scoring 17 points off the Albany miscues, all in the second half. UAlbany had 12 turnovers in the second half.
Senior Amanda Pape scored 16 points but needed to take 22 shots, hitting seven, to do it. Pape's 22 field goal attempts and four three-point attempts are both career-high marks. Pape played all 40 minutes for the fifth time this season. She is averaging 39.0 minutes per game this season.
SHU in the NCAA Rankings... Sophomore Kaitlin Sowinski is currently 12th in the nation in field goal percentage at 60.8% (45-74). She is also 32nd in blocks per game (2.2 bkpg). Senior Amanda Pape is currently tied for 5th in the nation in steals per game (4.0 spg). Pape's nine steals against Providence is tied for the fourth highest total in a game this season.
