Pioneers Celebrate New Year's Facing #5 UConn
12/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2006
Sacred Heart vs. UConn Game Notes in PDF Format
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Sacred Heart Pioneers (6-5, 1-0 NEC) vs. #5 UConn Huskies (10-0, 1-0 Big East)
Game #12 - Sunday, December 31, 2006 - 12:00 pm - Hartford, Conn. - Hartford Civic Center (16,294) - Television: Live - CPTV
The Storyline... The Pioneers will round out the non-conference portion of their 2006-07 schedule and close out the 2006 calender year as well Sunday afternoon when they travel upstate to take on the nationally ranked UConn Huskies. This will be the first meeting between the Pioneers and Huskies on the hardwood and just the fourth time SHU will face a ranked opponent since joining the Division I ranks in 1999-00. After a disappointing loss at Albany the Pioneers have righted the ship and posted a pair of impressive wins over Saint Peter's, 68-50, and Stony Brook, 77-65, last time out. Sacred Heart senior Amanda Pape has been back in an offensive groove after some early season shooting woes. Pape is averaging 27.0 points and 10.3 rebounds while shooting 51.4% (38-74) from the field and 87.9% (29-33) from the line in the Pioneer's last four wins. UConn is off to an unbeaten start to their season as head coach Geno Auriemma attempts to become the fastest coach to 600 wins for his career against the Pioneers this Sunday.
Series... Today is the first meeting between the two schools.
The Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU `89) enters his 17th season as head coach at his alma mater. Swanson posts a 262-197 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have a 136-78 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, (262) and winning percentage (.571). 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. Geno Auriemma (West Chester State `81) is in his 22nd season at the helm of the University of Connecticut women's basketball program. Auriemma has a 599-116 (.838) record in time at UConn. Auriemma has guided the Huskies to five NCAA National Championships. A five-time NCAA National Coach of the Year, Auriemma was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts this past September.
Last Time Out... Pioneer senior Amanda Pape led four players in double figures, scoring 26 points as Sacred Heart came away with a 77-65 win over visiting Stony Brook University. The Pioneers shot 55.2% in the second half and used a 20-3 run to pull away for good midway through the half. SBU senior center Jessica Smith put the Seawolves on her back in the opening minutes of the second half, scoring six-straight points on a 8-1 run that tied the game at 36-36 and forced the Pioneers to use a time-out at the 18:18 mark. After trading baskets on the next two possessions, Pape gave the Pioneers the lead back for good, hitting a lay-up and then converting on a three-point play to put SHU up five, 43-38, with 16 minutes to play. With Smith forced to the bench with foul trouble the Pioneers took full advantage over the next five minutes to put the game away. The Pioneer's 20-3 rally featured Pape scoring 10 of her game-high 26 points on the run. The Pioneer lead peaked at 17 and never fell below 12 the rest of the way on the road to the win. SHU finished the game shooting a season-best 50.0% (28-56) from the field and 41.2% (7-17) from behind the arc. The Pioneers did turn the ball over 19 times but forced Stony Brook into 18 miscues of their own which SHU turned into 28 points at the other end. Pape's 26 came on 10-of-18 shooting including five-of-five at the line. She added eight rebounds, four assists and two steals to her line but also turned it over seven times. Also in double figures was sophomore Kaitlin Sowinski who poured in 19, hitting eight-of-11 and blocking a pair of shots in the win. Stony Brook got 19 points from Smith and 16 from Mykeema Ford, the top-two scoring tandem in the America East Conference.
Pioneers vs. the Big East... Sacred Heart is 3-5 all-time against the Big East Conference. SHU picked up their first win against the conference since joining the ranks of Division I in last season's opener, defeating Providence College, 65-49 and have since won three-straight against the league. The Pioneers picked up an 84-57 win at Syracuse as well last season and beat the Friars at home, 76-69, earlier this year. Sacred Heart is 0-1 against Boston College as a member of the Big East and is 2-0 against Providence and 1-1 against Syracuse. The Pioneers have losing records against Pittsburgh (0-1) and Georgetown (0-2). Dating back to their Division II days, SHU is 0-3 against Seton Hall from the 1977-78 and 1978-79 seasons. SHU beat the Friars once back in the 1979-80 season, topping the Friars 59-42 at the Kean Tournament (Division II). Sacred Heart is 0-2 against two of the league's newest members. SHU fell at Cincinnati, 75-43, (2001-02) and Marquette, 76-49, (2002-03) when both teams were member of Conference-USA.
Scouting the Huskies... The #5 ranked Connecticut Huskies are out to a 10-0 start to their season after beating Hartford on Friday night heading into their match-up with the Pioneers. Four of UConn's five starters are averaging double figures on the season led by sophomore guard Renee Montgomery who is scoring at a 14.5 per game clip. She leads the team with 47 assists and 26 steals. Junior Mel Thomas is averaging 11.8 points and shooting 51.1% (25-49) from behind the arc. Junior Charde Houston averages 11.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game with sophomore Kalana Green rounding out the players in double figures at 12.0 points per game.
Streaks, Trends, Milestones, Notes... Sunday's game will mark the fourth time in the Pioneers's Division I history they will face a nationally ranked opponent in #5 UConn. SHU is 0-3 in game against ranked teams. The Pioneers faced two ranked teams last season, losing to #4 Ohio State, 84-40, in December and falling to #3 ranked and eventual National Champion Maryland, 95-54, in the opening round of last year's NCAA Tournament. The first time the Pioneers played a ranked team was in 2003 when they fell to #25 ranked Boston College, 94-49.
The Pioneers will wrap up non-conference play Sunday afternoon after posing a 5-5 mark thus far. SHU is 1-0 against the Big East and the MAAC, 2-1 against America East, 1-2 against the Ivy League and 0-1 against the Atlantic-10.
Sacred Heart shot a season-high 50.0% (28-56) from the field in their win over Stony Brook. Their previous high was 45.0% (27-60) against Providence. The last time SHU shot 50.0% or better in a game was February 13th last season versus Mount St. Mary's, 53.3% (32-60).
SHU also shot a season-best 41.2% (7-17) from behind the 3-pt arc in the win. Their previous high was 40.0% (4-10) against St. Francis (PA).
The Pioneers hit over 80.0% from the free throw line for the second-straight game. SHU shot 14-17 at the charity stripe (82.4%) against SBU and are 5-2 in games where they make more free throws then their opponent.
Senior Amanda Pape scored 25-plus points for the fourth time in her last five games Thursday afternoon, netting 26 in the win. Pape is averaging 24.8 points in her last five outings. Her 10 field goals tied her season-high mark set against Providence. Her 26 point afternoon leaves her 18 points away from becoming the school's all-time career scoring leader. Her 1,616 points trails Diane Nicholls' (1987-91), 1,632 points. Pape also picked up her 700th career rebound in the win. She is three steals away from 300 for her career.
Pape played in her 100th career game Thursday afternoon. She has started 99 of those contests including 71-straight. The Pioneers are 71-29 in Pape's 100 games.
