Sacred Heart University Department of Athletics
St. Francis Brooklyn
Pioneers Take Home a Nail-Biter 57-53 Over St. Francis Brooklyn
3/2/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Brooklyn, N.Y. (March 2, 2013)—The Sacred Heart Women's team took home a 57-53 win over St. Francis Brooklyn Saturday afternoon in the Pope Physical Education Center in a preview of the Northeast Conference Tournament quarterfinals. The Pioneers were fueled by a 25-8 run in the first half while sophomore Gabrielle Washington (Mesa, Ariz.) led the way with 20 points, her eleventh 20-plus performance of the season. The Pioneers are now 21-8 on the season and 13-4 in conference.
Breaking out of the first media timeout, SHU held the Terriers nearly nine minutes without a field goal, while they went on another big run. The Pioneers took a dominating 29-12 lead on a 19-5 run before the 2:18 media timeout.
Sacred Heart continued their great play, hitting four more baskets before the halftime buzzer for a 38-19 lead heading into the break.
The first and second halves were night and day, as the Terriers out scored Sacred Heart 34-19 in the latter half of the game.
After a nearly three-minute scoring drought to open the second half, the Pioneers went on a 6-2 run before Eilidh Simpson, who accounted for 10 of the Terriers first 13, hit a shot from downtown. The teams exchanged points with SHU maintaining their nearly 20-point lead for the majority of the second half.
Blair Koniszewski (Vienna, Va.) drained a triple with 10:29 left in the game to put Sacred Heart up 53-32 before a nearly eight minutes, while SFBK went on a 17-0 tear to cut the Pioneers' lead to just four, 53-49. Washington snapped the SFBK's comeback with a jumper just inside the arc, but the Terriers responded with a layup to remain four points back.
With 16.6 seconds on the clock, Sarah Benedetti knocked down a pair of free throws minimizing the gap to just two points, 55-53. Katie Fox immediately got called for a foul on Ericka Norman (Chino Hills, Calif.) in an attempt to stop the clock. Sacred Heart being in the bonus, Norman made it a four-point game again where it stayed until the final buzzer.
The Pioneers close the regular season Monday night against LIU Brooklyn.
