FAIRFIELD, CONN. (February 17, 2014)— The Sacred Heart women's basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak Monday night with the 77-53 defeat of St. Francis Brooklyn in the William H. Pitt Center. For the second time this season, Sacred Heart saw two players eclipse the 20-point marker Gabrielle Washington (Mesa, Ariz.) led all players with 27 points flirting with a double-double with nine rebounds. Red-shirt sophomore Hannah Kimmel (Harpursville, N.Y.) tallied a new career-high of 24 points shooting 60.0% from the field as Sacred Heart improves to 11-14 overall, and 8-6 in Northeast Conference play.
SHU posted its highest shooting percentage of the year going 50.9% from the floor. Senior forward Enjoli Bland (Queen Creek, Ariz.) pulled down a season-high 12 rebounds.
Sacred Heart opened the game on a 15-4 run as Washington and Kimmel combined for the Pioneers' first 12 points as SHU took an early 12-4 lead on the Terriers.
The Pioneers continued to expand their lead throughout the half. With just seconds before the buzzer, Washington landed Sacred Heart's seventh three-pointer of the night to send the Pioneers into the break leading 41-29.
The Terriers open the second half on a 5-0 run cutting SHU's lead to seven points, and forcing Sacred Heart Head Coach Jessica Mannetti to call a time out. Washington snapped the streak taking the ball to the hole for a layup sparking a 13-3 Pioneer run, which featured two buckets from Katie Shepard (Lone Tree, Colo.), who flirted with a double-double with eight points and six assists.
Sacred Heart took its largest lead of the night, 29 points, on a Washington jumper with 2:38 left in the game.
SHU opens a two-game road series Saturday at Central Connecticut State at 1:00 p.m.
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