SHU Women's Hoop Set for First Meeting with BYU
11/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 30, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Sacred Heart Pioneers (2-3, 0-0 NEC) vs. Brigham Young Cougars (3-3, 0-0 MWC)
Game #6 - Saturday, December 1, 2007 - 2:00 pm - Fairfield, Conn. - William H. Pitt Center (2,100)
Radio: SacredHeartPioneers.com
The Storyline... Sacred Heart will be looking to continue their winning ways at home this season as they welcome Brigham Young to the William H. Pitt Center Saturday afternoon for the first-ever meeting between the Pioneers and Cougars. SHU has enjoyed the early season home cooking coming off wins over Binghamton, 70-52, and Albany, 64-48, on the homestand. The Cougars wrap up their two-game swing through the Nutmeg state after suffering an 80-34 loss at the hands of the #2 ranked UConn Huskies on Thursday night. The Cougars are looking to avoid an 0-3 season against the state of Connecticut having loss at home to the University of Hartford, 70-59, earlier in the year.
Series... This is the first meeting between the two schools.
Pioneers vs. Mountain West... Today's game will mark Sacred Heart's first match-up with a team from the Mountain West Conference. The Mountain West is made up of Air Force, Brigham Young, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, TCU, UNLV, Utah and Wyoming.
The Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU `89) is in his 18th season as head coach at his alma mater. Swanson posts a 280-205 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have a 154-86 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, (280) and winning percentage (.577). He 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. Jeff Judkins (Utah `78) is in his sixth season at the helm of the Brigham Young University women's basketball program. Judkins owns a 129-63 (.672) record in his seven years as the head coach of the Cougars. He has guided BYU to the NCAA Tournament four times including a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2002. As a player, Judkins guided the University of Utah to a pair of NCAA Tournament berths and played five seasons in the NBA with the Boston Celtics, Portland Trailblazers, Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz.
Last Time Out... The Sacred Heart trio of senior Lisa Moray and juniors Kaitlin Sowinski and Stephanie Ryan all scored in double figures to lead the Pioneers to a 64-48 win over the University at Albany Wednesday night. The Pioneers once again relied on the hot hand of Moray who buried four-of-eight from behind the three point arc en route to another 12 point night. She added five boards, four assists and a steal to her game totals. Ryan found her way into double figures for the first time as a Pioneer with 15 points on four-of-seven from the field and six-of-six at the line. Sowinski led all scorers with 17 points and four blocks. Neither team managed much offense through the first 10 minutes of action before SHU jumped out to a 24-14 lead thanks to a 12-2 run. Moray buried a pair of three's during the rally as the Pioneers took their first double digit lead of the night with just under five minutes to go in the half. The Great Danes clawed their way to within three point in the opening minutes of the second half but the Pioneers pulled back in front by 10, 44-34, midway through thanks to a quick 9-2 spurt. SHU freshman Alisa Apo capped the rally burying a three and a runner in the lane. UAlbany pushed back once more and pulled within 44-39 used another 12-2 jaunt over the next four minutes to put the game safely away. The Pioneers did an excellent job at the free throw line all night, finishing 18-of-19. Freshman Maggie Cosgrove finished with eight points, hitting her only two three attempts of the night, to go with two assists and four steals. Apo came off the bench to add nine points and three steals to the win. UAlbany shot just 37.3% (19-51) while hitting just two-of-15 (.133) from behind the arc and eight-of-16 (.500) at the free throw line.
Scouting the Cougars... The BYU Cougars are off to a 3-3 start this season and are coming off an 80-34 loss at UConn last time out. Senior guard Mallary Gillespie-Carling is the Cougars only player averaging double figures at 11.8 points per game on the year. She is also averaging 3.0 assists per game to lead the team. Fellow senior Lauren Riley-Varley is the team's top-post player averaging just under a double double with 9.2 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. She is shooting 57.8% (26-45) from the field for the season. The Cougars are coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons and Moutain West regular season titles. BYU was picked to finished third in this year's MWC Preseason Poll with Carling earning a spot on the Preseason All-Conference team.
Sowinski Dominating the Paint... Junior center Kaitlin Sowinski has become the Pioneers got-to-player in the middle averaging 17.6 points through the season's first five games. The 6-4 center is shooting 54.8% (34-62) from the field and has gotten to the free throw line 31 times (20-31 - .645) as the center piece of SHU's offense. Sowinski has been the team's leading scorer in each game and posted back-to-back 20-point games against Fairfield and Binghamton. She also continues to be a force on the defensive end with 15 blocked shots on the year.
Moray On Fire 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 Moray struggled out of the gates, hitting just one-for-12 from behind the arc over the first three games while missing her first 11 from downtown. But like all good shooters, the senior kept shooting and found her way out of the slide, hitting 50.0% (13-26) over the last three games. She buried four-of-eight last time out against Albany and hit four-of-10 against Binghamton last Sunday. The senior snapped out of her skid against Fairfield with a five-for-eight night, a season-high 15 points, and marking the seventh time in her career she has made five or more from behind the arc.
Smart with the Basketball... Senior Lisa Moray is back atop the NEC leaderboard in assist-to-turnover ratio. The senior guard led the league last season with 106 assists (3.3 per game) against just 51 turnovers (1.6 per game). Through the first five games, Moray is tops once again with 16 assists coming against just seven miscues. Also getting into the act is junior Khalia Cain also has 16 helpers on the year with 10 turnovers. Cain is quickly becoming one of the Pioneer's leaders on the court this season and can play both guard positions.
Ryan - Rounding Into Pioneer Form... Stephanie Ryan is coming off her break-out game as a Pioneer after scoring 15 points with five rebounds, three assists and two steals in Wednesday's win over Albany. Ryan is just five games into her Sacred Heart career after transferring last season from Fairfield University. The junior has been very solid all-around, leading the team in rebounding (6.8 rpg) and steals (11). Her 7.8 points per game is third on the squad.
