Pioneers Return to the Court this Sunday at Villanova
12/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2008
Sacred Heart vs. Villanova Game Notes in PDF Format 
Sacred Heart Pioneers (4-6, 2-0 NEC) vs. Villanova Wildcats (6-5, 0-0 Big East)
Game #11 - Sunday, December 28, 2008 - 1:00 pm - Villanova, Pa. - The Pavilion
Radio: www.SacredHeartPioneers.com Multimedia: Gametracker
The Storyline... Sacred Heart are back in action after the holidays traveling to Villanova Sunday afternoon. The Pioneers saw their four-game winning streak snapped a week ago, falling at home to Rhode Island,, 62-50. The Wildcats also saw their winning-streak end this week as Delaware halted their three-game run with a 52-49 win.
Series... This is the first meeting between the two schools.
Pioneers vs. the Big East... Sacred Heart is 3-10 all-time against the Big East Conference. The Pioneers saw their three-game winning streak against the Big East snapped earlier this season with a 77-55 loss at Marquette. Prior to that, the last time SHU faced a team from the league was in 2006-07, a 76-69 over Providence at home. Sacred Heart is 1-1 against Boston College when the Eagles were a member of the Big East. SHU is 2-1 against Providence and 1-1 against Syracuse. The Pioneers have losing records against Marquette (0-1), Pittsburgh (0-2), Georgetown (0-2) and Seton Hall (0-3).
The Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU `89) is in his 19th season as head coach at his alma mater. Swanson posts a 301-219 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have a 175-100 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, (301) and winning percentage (.579). He has twice been named the NEC Coach of the Year and is four conference wins away from becoming the league's all-time leader in regular season win. Harry Perretta (Lycoming `78) is in his 31st season on the Villanova bench, compiling a 559-334 career mark. His 559 wins place him 21st on the winningest active collegiate coaching list, and ranks him as the all-time winningest coach in the history of Villanova basketball for both men and women. Over the past eight seasons Perretta has compiled an impressive 164-98 record.
Scouting the Wildcats... The Villanova women's basketball team comes in to Sunday's match-up at 6-5 on the year. The Wildcats saw their three-game winning streak snapped last time out, falling at home to Delaware, 52-49, on Monday. Senior forward Laura Kurz is the team's leading scorer and rebounder, checking in at 17.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. Kurz is ranked seventh in the Big East in scoring and tied for fourth in rebounding. The Wildcats are averaging 56.5 points per game, last among Big East schools. On the flip side, Villanova is allowing just 52.5 points per game, fourth among league leaders. The Wildcats were picked to finish 10th in the 16 team conference in this year's Big East Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Last Meeting with Villanova... The Pioneers and Wildcats have never met on the basketball court.
Last Time Out... Rhode Island got 20 points apiece from Tanja Licina and Megan Shoniker as the Rams outscored Sacred Heart 32-15 in the second half en route to a 62-40 win last Saturday. The Rams used a 10-0 run to open the second half, forcing 11 turnovers and holding SHU to just 25.9% (7-27) shooting over the final 20 minutes to seal the win. SHU's Kaitlin Sowinski posted her second-straight double double finishing with a team-high 19 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. Sowinski finished eight-of-15 at the free throw line but hit just three-of-nine at the free throw line. Maggie Cosgrove scored all of her nine points in the first half, and had four assists but turned it over seven times. The Pioneers shot five-of-10 from behind the arc in the first half but managed just one-of-10 during the second stanza. SHU was also hurt by 11 second half turnovers, leading to 10 Ram points at the other end. Licina and Shoniker combined to shoot 17-of-33 on the afternoon to lead all scorers. Shoniker made four-of-eight from behind the arc. The Rams held the rebounding edge 42-32 and shot 45.8% (27-59) in the win.
Closing out 2008... Sacred Heart will close out the 2008 calender year with a pair of games against Villanova and Binghamton this week, looking to ring in the new year closing out the non-conference slate. The Pioneers will get back to NEC play next weekend with a pair of road stops at Monmouth and Long Island. SHU will have one more non-league game to play late in the year when they host future conference member Bryant in late February.
2-0 start in the NEC... For the second-straight season Sacred Heart starts 2-0 in the Northeast Conference in league games played in December. The Pioneers are 2-0 in the conference for the fourth-straight season as they close out non-conference play with games at Villanova and at home against Rhode Island and Binghamton. The NEC slate picks back up on Saturday, January 3rd at Monmouth.
Apo and Cosgrove with a Helping Hand... The Pioneers lead the NEC averaging 14.3 assists per game. Leading the way is SHU sophomore guards Alisa Apo and Maggie Cosgrove who combine to average nearly six assists per game. Apo is 12th in NEC averaging 3.00 helpers per game followed by Cosgrove at 2.70 per. Apo ranks seventh in the NEC in assist / turnover ratio, passing out 30 assists to 29 turnovers.
Sowinski's Double Dips... Senior Kaitlin Sowinski comes in off two-straight double doubles giving her three for the season. Sowinski posted 19 points and 10 boards against URI and had a season-high 22 points with a career-best 17 caroms at Princeton. The senior has raised her scoring average to 14.5 points per game while leading the team shooting 50.9% (58-114) from the field. Sowinski leads the team in rebounding at 7.8 boards per game. In her four-year career, Sowinski has 14 double double efforts.
Apo Looking to Bounce Back... Sophomore Alisa Apo was limited to a season-low 12 minutes in last week's loss to Rhode Island battling the flu. Apo was held to a season-low five points, snapping a nine-game streak this season and a 13-game streak dating back to last season of scoring in double figures.
Frosh Taylor Leads the NEC at the Line and Behind the Arc... Freshman Callan Taylor leads the Northeast Conference in three-point field goal percentage and free throw shooting percentage. Taylor has made 12-of-21 from behind the arc, a 57.1% shooter. At the charity stripe, the freshman has knocked down 88.9%, making 24 of 27. On the year she is averaging 8.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
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