Fairfield, Conn. (January 2, 2013)—Morgan Merriman's (Seattle, Wa.) back-to-back-to-back lay-ups in the closing minutes helped lift the Pioneers to a 67-62 win over visting Yale University Wednesday night in the William H. Pitt Center. The Bulldogs came back from a 15-point deficit to lead by two with seven minutes left but a Sacred Heart closed the game with a 15-7 run for the win. SHU closes out its non-conference schedule 8-4.

Gabrielle Washington (Mesa, Ariz.) notched her fifth 20-plus point performance tonight, leading all scorers with 22 points.

Getting the ball off the tip, Washington knocked down the first shot of the game with a jumper inside the paint. Yale's Sarah Halejian responded, but it was the Bulldogs' last bucket for a while, as Enjoli Bland's (Queen Creek, Ariz.) layup kicked off the Pioneers' 21-6 run, increasing their lead to 23-8.

Yale battled their way back, hitting back-to-back threes to end the first half, narrowing the gap to just five points, 37-32 at the break.

Yale pulled within one point 49-48 thanks to a 7-0 run, but Nyasha Sarju got whistled for a foul sending Merriman to the line, increasing the Pioneers' lead

With 8:18 on the clock, Zenab Keita hit back-to-back layups to give Yale its first lead of the game 55-52. After Ericka Norman (Chino Hills, Calif.) added one for the Pioneers from the charity stripe, Merriman, en route to 17 points, knotted the game at 55-55 with a layup.  

She kept the SHU run going pushing the lead to 59-55 with two more. Washington and Norman tacked on two free throws each before the final buzzer to secure the Pioneers 11-straight win over the Yale Bulldogs.

Senior Kiley Evans (Cazenovia, NY) added 11 points for the Pioneers who shot 48.3 percent (28-58) in the win.

Yale's Janna Graf hit four-of-seven from three on the way to a team-high 18 points.

The Pioneers open Northeast Conference play this Saturday at home against St. Francis Brooklyn as part of a women's/men's doubleheader at 1:00 p.m.