SHU Set for Home Opener Against Binghamton
11/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 21, 2007
Sacred Heart vs. Binghamton Game Notes in PDF Format 
Sacred Heart Pioneers (0-3, 0-0 NEC) vs. Binghamton Bearcats (0-3, 0-0 America East)
Game #4 - Sunday, November 25, 2007 - 2:00 pm - Fairfield, Conn. - William H. Pitt Center (2,100)
Radio/Media: Gametracker/Live Video - SacredHeartPioneers.com
The Storyline... After an 0-3 start on the road to start the 2007-08 season, the Sacred Heart Pioneers return home on Sunday to host the Binghamton Bearcats hoping to end their winless drought. The Pioneers are 0-3 for the first time since 2000-01 as they look to bounce back in the friendly confines of the William H. Pitt Center. SHU has made playing in the Pitt Center a nightmare for opponents since its opening in 1997, running up a remarkable 110-22 record in the arena. The Pioneers will open a four-game homestand starting with the Bearcats.
Series... Binghamton leads the all-time series, 2-1. The two teams met for the first time last season as Division I opponents with the Pioneers posting a 57-53 win at Binghamton. Prior to that, the other two meetings both took place during the 1998-99 season. The Bearcats got 22 points from Bess Greenberg on the way to a 75-66 win at home on December 9th in the first ever meeting between the two schools. Binghamton came to Fairfield on January 20th that season pulled out a 53-52 win. SHU went to the foul line with just 13.8 second left with a chance to tie but missed the second shot. The Pioneers corralled the loose ball rebound but failed to get a shot off that could have won the game. Leah Truncale and Maryann Prendergrast led the Bearcats with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Sacred Heart got 14 points from Jessica Bresnahan and a double double from Hearth Yablonski, 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU `89) enters his 18th season as head coach at his alma mater. Swanson posts a 278-205 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have a 152-86 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, (278) and winning percentage (.576). 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. Rich Conover (Green Mountain `87) is in his fifth season at the helm of the Binghamton University women's basketball program. Conover has a 63-71 (.470) record at Binghamton and a 133-129 (.508) overall in his 10 seasons as a head coach. Prior to becoming the Bearcat's head coach, Conover was the head coach at St. Joseph's (Vt.), Castleton State and SUNY-Oneonta.
Pioneers vs. America East... The Pioneers are 5-7 against the America East Conference since joining Division I in 1999-00. SHU is 1-0 against Binghamton and 1-1 against Stony Brook after a loss last week. SHU is 1-2 against Albany and Hartford, 1-1 against New Hampshire and 0-1 against the University of Vermont. The Pioneers have faced Albany, Binghamton, Hartford and Stony Brook in their Division II days. The Pioneers were 6-2 against UMBC when the Retrievers where a member of the Northeast Conference.
Scouting the Bearcats... The Binghamton Bearcats are also off to an 0-3 start after losses to Portland State (62-60), St. Bonaventure (58-56) and Canisius (65-56). The Bearcats returned nine letterwinners and three starters from last season's 12-19 squad. Leading the charge is the trio of seniors Laura Sario and Laine Kurpniece and junior Laura Franceski, all averaging double digit points on the year. Franceski is scoring at a 14.3 points per game clip while shooting 59.1% (13-22) from the field. Sario is averaging 12.3 points and leads the team in rebounding from her guard position at 6.3 boards per game. Kurpniece is averaging 11.7 points and 5.3 rebounds from her center position. The Bearcats were picked to finish third in the America East Preseason Coaches Poll. Both Sario and Kurpniece were selected to the Preseason All-Conference team.
Last Meeting with Binghamton... The Pioneers led by as many as 21 points but needed to withstand a late Binghamton charge to come away with a 57-54 win last November. SHU seniors Jasmine Walker and Amanda Pape each scored double figures with 15 and 12, respectively, to lead the way. The Bearcats suffered a six minute scoreless drought in the first half which led to a SHU 12-0 run to go up 20-10 with 6:45 left. Just before the final media time-out of the half, Binghamton hit another offensive rut going scoreless over the last 4:16 while the Pioneers used an 8-0 run and led 34-16 at the break. Sacred Heart built their lead to 21 in the early stages of the second half but the Bearcats climbed back into it. BU used an 11-0 run and a 10-0 that cut the Pioneer lead all the way down to five, 51-46, with four minutes left. The Pioneers pushed it back to nine before BU once again got within four but missed three shots in the final minute to preserve the SHU win. The Pioneers were outscored 37-23 in the second half and were out rebounded 44-33 on the night. SHU forced 22 total turnovers but committed 12 of their 18 in the final 20 minutes of action.
Last Time Out... The Sacred Heart Pioneers got a career-high 24 points from junior center Kaitlin Sowinski as they erased an 11-point halftime deficit but came up just two points short in a 58-56 loss to Fairfield University on Sunday. The Pioneers and Stags renewed their crosstown rivalry, meeting for the first time since the 1980-81 season. The Pioneers dug themselves into that 11-point hole at the half thanks in most part to the effectiveness of the Stags on the glass. Fairfield outrebounded SHU 22-13 over the first 20 minutes of action, pulling down 13 offensive caroms leading to 16 second chance points. The Pioneers twice pulled within a bucket in the second half and tied the game at 54-54 on a Lisa Moray three with 1:06 to go but Fairfield's Megan Caskin help deliver her team the win, burying her second of two big three-point makes with 44 ticks left. Down 57-56 with 19 ticks left, the Pioneers needed to foul five times to force the Stags to the line for a one-and-one but Fairfield was able to run off all but one second before having to give SHU the ball back for a desperation heave down court that missed its mark. Sowinski's career-night came on 10-of-16 shooting from the field and four-of-five at the line. The junior center pulled down five boards and had six blocks in the loss. Moray came off the bench to bury five-of-eight from behind the three-point arc to finish with 15 points.
Sowinski's Hot Start... Junior center Kaitlin Sowinski is off to a torrid start, leading the Pioneers in scoring each of the three games while coming off a career-high 24 points last time out. Sowinski is averaging 17.3 points per game on the young season while shooting 52.4% (22-42) from the field. She made a career-high 10 shots against Fairfield on the way to her personal best 24 point evening. Adding to her offense, Sowinski is pulling down 6.7 rebounds a game and has eight blocks on the year.
Moray Back on Track Behind the Arc... Coming into the 2007-08 season, senior Lisa Moray returned as the Pioneer's leading three-point threat after hitting a school record 69 treys last year. But heading into the Fairfield game, Moray was just one-for-12 from behind the arc, missing her first 11 from downtown on the year. But like all good shooters, the senior kept shooting and found her way out of the two-game funk, hitting five-of-eight from three against the Stags. Moray's five three's led to her season-high 15 points and marked the seventh time in her four year career she has made five or more shots from three-point range in a game.
Ryan Solid All-Around... Stephanie Ryan is just three games into her Pioneer career after transferring last season from Fairfield but the junior forward has fit in quite well. Ryan is the Pioneers top rebounder heading into Sunday's game at 7.7 per clip. In fact, she's done everything you can ask of a player except score big points thus far. Ryan had back-to-back games against Stony Brook and Fairfield where she pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. She's had at least one assist in every game and leads the team with seven steals at the defensive end. The only area were she has struggled is shooting the basketball, hitting just eight-of-29 (.276) on the year.
Cain Starting to Lead... Sophomore Khalia Cain is quickly becoming one of the Pioneer's leaders on the court this season. Cain, who can play both guard positions, is averaging 8.3 points on the year and is leading the team with 12 assists. She has gotten to the free throw line 10 times, hitting nine while coming up with four steals at the defensive end. Cain and freshman Maggie Cosgrove both can play at the point guard position but with both in the game, the junior Cain will slide over to the shooting guard role.
No Place Like the Pitt... The Pioneers have become one of the toughest teams on their home court, the William H. Pitt Center. Since the opening of the Pitt Center in 1997, his Sacred Heart teams have won 83% (110-22) of their home games including a perfect 15-0 in 2005-06 and 14-0 in 2003-04. Between 2002 and 2004, the Pioneers put together a string of 19-straight regular season wins at home in the Pitt Center. Their .833 winning percentage at home ranks the Pitt Center nationally as one the toughest arena for visiting teams to earn a win.
Pioneers Ink Four for 2008-09... Sacred Heart University head women's basketball coach Ed Swanson announced today that four student-athletes have signed National Letters-of-Intent during the early signing period. Swing Guards Alexis Campbell (Ashburn, VA / Broad Run H.S.) and Kris Iovino (Murrysville, PA / Franklin Regional H.S.), guard Emily Hyncik (Skillman, NJ / The Peddie School) and forward Callan Taylor (Overland Park, KS / Blue Valley North H.S.) have signed letters and will join the Pioneers in the fall of 2008.
