Pioneers Host Red Flash in NEC Opener
12/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 8, 2006
Sacred Heart vs. Saint Francis (PA) Game Notes in PDF Format
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Sacred Heart Pioneers (3-4, 0-0 NEC) vs. Saint Francis (PA) Red Flash (3-5, 0-1 NEC)
Game #8 - Saturday, December 9, 2006 - 2:00 pm - Fairfield, Conn. - William H. Pitt Center (2,100)
The Storyline... The Sacred Heart Pioneers open Northeast Conference play Saturday afternoon hosting the Saint Francis (PA) Red Flash. The Pioneers are 6-1 in league openers and sport an 11-game regular season home winning streak against NEC teams. After a tough 1-2 road stretch against three Ivy League schools, the Pioneers rebounded a week ago with an impressive 76-69 win over Providence College. The Red Flash were impressive as well last week, knocking off Penn State, 74-69, and Navy, 64-56, both at home. SFPA comes to Fairfield off an 89-69 loss in their NEC opener Thursday night at Quinnipiac.
Series... St. Francis (PA) leads the all-time series, 6-5. The Pioneers swept the season series last year, snapping a five-game losing streak to the Red Flash in the process. The Pioneers traveled out to Loretto in December last year and posted an 89-52 win. SHU completed the season sweep with a 64-51 win at home in January. SHU is 2-4 lifetime in Loretto, picking up their first win at DeGol Arena since the 2000-01 season. SHU is 3-2 in the Pitt Center against the Red Flash. Last season's 37-point victory at SFPA is the second largest win against a division opponent since the Pioneers joined the Northeast Conference. 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 Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU `89) enters his 17th season as head coach at his alma mater. Swanson posts a 259-196 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have a 133-77 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, (259) 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. Jill Poe (West Virginia `89) is in her fourth season at the helm of the Saint Francis (PA) women's basketball program. Poe has a 53-44 (.546) record in her four years as the head coach of the Red Flash and overall. Poe guided Saint Francis to a 46-16 overall mark in her first two seasons, claiming back-to-back NEC titles.
Last Time Out... Sacred Heart senior Amanda Pape just missed recording a triple-double, scoring 25 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and making nine steals to lead the Pioneers to a 76-69 win over Providence College. The Pioneers have won three-straight against the Big East dating back to last season. SHU had four players in double figures led by Pape and sophomore Kaitlin Sowinski who finished with a career-high 23 points. She just missed a double double with nine rebounds. The Pioneers trailed by two at the half, 34-32, marking the first game this year they won a game when trailing at the break. The Pioneers battled back from a nine-point deficit in the second half and used a 12-0 run to tie and take a lead they never relinquished on the way to the win. Senior Jasmine Walker and sophomore Khalia Cain each scored 10 points.
Scouting the Red Flash... The Saint Francis (PA) Red Flash come in with a 3-5 mark and are coming off an 89-69 loss at Quinnipiac Thursday night in their league opener. The Red Flash had a pair of big wins last week, toppling Big Ten member Penn State, 74-69, and Navy, 64-56, both at home. Heading into their date with Quinnipiac, SFPA dropped the last game of a three-game homestand to Loyola (MD), 81-64. The Red Flash are led by senior Christine Ayers, who leads the squad scoring 11.4 points per game. She scored a team-high 16 in the loss to Quinnipiac. Senior Beth Halter is the team's leading rebounder at 6.6 boards per game. Saint Francis (PA) is third in the league in scoring (64.2), free throw percentage (72.8%) and third in three-point shooting (32.7%).
Last Meeting with Saint Francis (PA)... The SHU trio of Nicolle Rubino and juniors Amanda Pape and Jasmine Walker each scored double figures as the Pioneers beat St. Francis (PA), 64-51, in front of a then Division I school record crowd of 1,153 on January 21st last season. The Pioneers built up as much as a 20-point lead in the first half, taking full advantage of poor St. Francis shooting and an abundance of Red Flash turnovers. SFPA shot just 22.2% (6-27) in the half and turned the ball over 17 times in the first 20 minutes of play. The Pioneers turned those 17 miscues into 17 points at the other end while hitting 44.1% (15-34) from the field. Rubino scored 10 of her 13 points in the half. The Sacred Heart lead peaked at 29 as the Pioneers opened the second half with a 13-4 run over the first five minutes. SFPA cut the lead to 10 with a 16-5 run but the SHU would dig in defensively and kept the Red Flash in check the rest of the way. Walker led all scorers with 17 points on eight-of-13 shooting while grabbing six boards, making two steals and blocking a shot. Pape tallied 15 and notched her fourth double double of the season with 12 rebounds. Beth Halter picked up a double dip with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for the Red Flash.
Streaks, Trends, Milestones, Notes... Sacred Heart is 6-1 in Northeast Conference openers since the joined the league in 1999-00. Their lone loss came at Wagner, 72-62, during the 2003-04 season.
Saint Francis (PA) was the last NEC team to win a regular season game in the William H. Pitt Center. The Red Flash beat SHU, 64-55, back on February 17, 2005. The Pioneers rattled off a perfect 9-0 in league play at home last season.
The last time the Red Flash came to the Pitt Center, a new women's basketball attendance record was set. The Pioneers packed 1,153 into the Pitt Center on January 21st when they beat St. Francis-PA 64-51, a mark they would eclipse twice more last season.
Senior Amanda Pape, who came into Friday's game shooting just 21.7%, just missed a triple double in the win over the Friars. Pape shot 10-of-20 from the field, scoring a season-high 25 points. She tied her career high pulling down 14 rebounds and made a career-high nine steals. Pape played all 40 minutes in the win, the third-straight game and fourth time this season she has played every minute.
Pape's 25 points put her over the 1,500 point plateau. She now has 1,517, trailing Diane Nicholls ('87-'91) by 115 points for the top spot all-time. Sophomore Kaitlin Sowinski is leading the NEC in shooting percentage 66.1% (37-56) and blocked shots, 2.0 per game (14).
Friday marked the first game this season the Pioneers have won when trailing at halftime (34-32). Coming in, SHU was 0-3 when losing at the break.
The win over the Friars puts the Pioneers 3-0 against the Big East dating back to last season. SHU is 4-9 all-time versus the conference. The Pioneers will play once more against the Big East this season facing UConn on New Year's Eve.
Senior point guard Kerri Burke missed her third-straight game last Friday but is expected back Saturday against the Red Flash. Fellow senior Mary Rush will be out of the lineup through the rest of the month, targeting conference play for her return from a foot injury.
Sowinski - NEC Player of the Week... Sophomore Kaitlin Sowinski has become a dominant inside force for the Pioneers just seven games into her second season. The 6-4 center helped SHU to a 1-1 week, including a win over Big East foe Providence. Sowinski, playing against a trio of six-foot-plus frontcourt Friars, scored a career high 23 points, shooting 9-of-13 from the field. The sophomore just missed her second double-double in a week with nine boards while adding two blocks. Sowinski played a career-high 36 minutes in the win. Sowinski started the week with big effort in an overtime loss at Columbia. Sowinski had 20 points, including the Pioneers first nine points of the second half, while blocking four shots. Sowinski ranks sixth in the NEC in scoring (15.0 ppg), first in field-goal percentage (66.1%) and second in blocks (14). She has more then doubled her rebounding average from last year, pulling down 6.9 rebounds per game, which stands 12th in the league.
Home Sweet Home... The Pioneers won their 100th game in the William H. Pitt Center. SHU is 100-20 (.833) in the Pitt Center since it's opening in 1997. SHU has had two perfect season's at home, in 2005-06 (15-0) and 2003-04 (14-0). SHU is 47-7 at home in NEC games and has hosted six NEC Tournament games in the Pitt Center with a 4-2 mark.
SHU in the NCAA Rankings... Sophomore Kaitlin Sowinski is currently seventh in the nation in field goal percentage at 66.1% (37-56). She is also 43rd in blocks per game (2.0 bkpg). Senior Amanda Pape is currently tied for 17th in the nation in steals per game (3.6 spg). Pape's nine steals against Providence is tied with Sparkle Anderson of Cal Poly for the fourth highest total in a game this season.
