Sacred Heart Hosts Binghamton to Close out 2008
12/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Sacred Heart Pioneers (4-7, 2-0 NEC) vs. Binghamton Bearcats (4-7, 0-0 America East)
Game #12 - Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 7:00 pm - Fairfield, Conn. - William H. Pitt Center (2,100)
Radio: www.SacredHeartPioneers.com Multimedia: Live Video, Gametracker
The Storyline... The Pioneers return home to close out 2008 by hosting the Binghamton Bearcats Tuesday night. Sacred Heart is looking to bounce back at home after falling 69-52 at Villanova on Sunday. The Pioneers have lost two-straight heading into Tuesday night's game after winning their previous four-straight. SHU averaged 72.8 points per game over their four-wins but has hit an offensive funk in their last two managing just 50 points against Rhode Island and 52 against Villanova. The Bearcats are looking to halt a three-game slide including losses to similar SHU opponents, Lehigh and Villanova.
Series... The all-time series is tied at 2-2. The Pioneers have won two-straight over the Bearcats, posting a 70-52 win at home last November. The two teams renewed acquaintances for the first time as Division I teams in 2006-07 with Sacred Heart 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 a 75-66 win at home on December 9, 1998 in the first ever meeting between the two schools. Binghamton came to Fairfield on January 20, 1999 that season and pulled out a 53-52 win.
The Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU `89) is in his 19th season as head coach at his alma mater. Swanson posts a 301-220 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have a 175-101 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 (.578). 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. Nicole Scholl (Moorhead State `94) is in her first season as the head coach at Binghamton University. Scholl has been at Binghamton since 1999, serving first as an assistant coach then as the associate head coach. Scholl made the move to Binghamton after her first coaching stop at North Dakota State.
Pioneers vs. America East... The Pioneers are 8-7 against the America East Conference since joining Division I in 1999-00. SHU 2-1 against Stony Brook after beating the Seawolves earlier this season. The Pioneers are 2-0 against Binghamton, 2-2 against Albany, 1-2 against Hartford, 1-1 against New Hampshire and 0-1 against 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 come in at 4-7 under first-year head coach Nicole Scholl. The Bearcats have been off since a December 20th 78-45 loss at Lehigh and come in having lost three-straight. After posting a 2-3 mark in November, Binghamton opened the month of December with two-straight wins on the road, topping Niagara, 83-65, and La Salle, 53-47. Junior guard Erica Carter is the only Bearcat averaging double figures on the season, scoring at a 10.6 per game clip. She also leads the team with 19 makes from behind the arc. Senior forward Lauren Franceski is averaging 7.7 points and 4.4 rebounds and has 30 blocked shots on the season. The Bearcats close out their non-conference schedule on Monday, January 5th at Cornell before heading full-time into the America East slate.
Last Meeting with Binghamton... Sacred Heart got 20 points from Kaitlin Sowinski and 12 points apiece from Lisa Moray and Maggie Cosgrove as the Pioneers notched their first win of the 2007-08 season in their home opener, 70-52 over Binghamton last November. The Pioneers never trailed the Bearcats while shooting 50.0% (24-48) in the win. A 32-29 SHU lead at the half turned into a an 18-point win thanks to an early 13-2 run and some solid defense. The Pioneer clamped down on the Bearcats, forcing 11 turnovers in the second half and holding them to 33.3% (8-24) shooting. Sowinski made seven-of-nine from the field and six-of-nine at the line while collection four rebounds, four assists, three blocks and one steal in 29 minutes of action. Cosgrove turned in the first double-digit performance of her young career, hitting four-of-five from behind the three-point arc on the way to her 12 point day. She added a team-high seven rebounds, two assists and a steal to her totals. Moray's four three's went with four assists, four boards and a steal.
Last Time Out... Sacred Heart freshman Callan Taylor hit eight-of-11 to finish with a team-high 20 points but the Pioneers fell short, 69-52, at Villanova in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Taylor had 11 of her 20 in the first half; hitting her first five shots of the game as the Pioneers went on to shoot 52.6% (10-19) over the first 20 minutes. Villanova was just a touch better, shooting 53.8% (14-26) with Siobhan O'Connor and Heather Scanlon chipping in 10 points apiece off the bench to give the Wildcats a 38-24 lead at the break. The Pioneers stood toe-to-toe with the Wildcats in the early going, leading 11-7 in the opening minutes. The two teams sat even at 17-17 with 10:27 to go but from there it was all Villanova the rest of the half. The Wildcats took control of the game, closing the half on a 21-7 run to never look back. O'Connor led all scorers with 22 points off the bench, making seven-of-eight, including three-of-three behind the arc. Villanova leading shot 50.0%, in the win and held a 36-18 advantage in the paint. In addition to Taylor's 20, Alisa Apo finished with 13 points and eight assists before fouling out.
Closing out 2008... Sacred Heart will close out the 2008 calender year against Binghamton Tuesday night, closing out the non-conference slate until late February. The Pioneers are 2-7 in non-conference action this season, marking their second-straight season with a losing record against non-league opponents. The Pioneers will get back to NEC play this 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. 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 over six assists per game. Apo is seventh in NEC averaging 3.50 helpers per game coming off a career-high eight assists last time out against Villanova. Cosgrove is 14th in the league at 2.70 per game. Apo ranks fifth in the NEC in assist / turnover ratio, passing out 38 assists to 32 turnovers.
Frosh Taylor Has the Hot Hand... Freshman Callan Taylor is coming off a 20 point afternoon at Villanova where she hit eight-of-11 as leads the Northeast Conference in three-point field goal percentage this season. Taylor has made 14-of-24 from behind the arc, a 58.3% shooter. At the charity stripe, the freshman ranks second only to teammate Alisa Apo, knocking down 86.7%, making 26-of-30. On the year she is averaging 9.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
Sowinski's Block Party... Senior center Kaitlin Sowinski is back at it this season on the defensive end, leading the NEC in blocks per game. Sowinski has turned away 26 shots this season, a 2.4 per game average. She is the Pioneers all-time leader in the category with 255 career swats and counting.
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