STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (February 3, 2015)—Hannah Kimmel recorded her second double-double in as many games pacing the Pioneers with 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds as the Sacred Heart women's basketball team defeated Wagner 73-59 in the Spiro Sports Center on Staten Island. The red-shirt junior was one of four Pioneers who reached double digit scoring in Tuesday's contest. Gabrielle Washington (Mesa, Ariz.) and Adaysha Williams (LaCrosse, Wis.) put 14 points on the board each for Sacred Heart, while Lerae Ettienne (Kensington, Md.) totaled 10 as SHU improves to 10-9 on the season and 5-4 in NEC play.
The teams exchanged baskets to open the game before Katie Shepard's (Lone Tree, Colo.), who dished out seven assists in the game, second straight triple sent the Pioneers on a 9-2 run for a 14-6 lead by the 14:16 media timeout.
The Seahawks started creeping back using a six-point run to cut SHU's lead to 18-15, but Ettienne and Kimmel held them off with back-to-back lay-ins further extending Sacred Heart's lead.
Wagner again cut it to three points, 22-19, with three straight made foul shots, but once again the Pioneers were able to find turn up the heat on offense to hold them off. Washington and Kimmel combined for three points from the charity stripe before Katherine Haines (Ridgefield Park, N.J.) added two from the post making it 27-19 by the 3:56 media.
Jasmine Nwajei landed consecutive buckets with under two minutes remaining in the half bringing the Seahawks within a basket of claiming the lead, 30-28, but the Pioneers managed to hold them scoreless through the last minute while free throws from Haines and Shepard gave SHU a 33-28 lead at the half.
Ettienne got second-half scoring underway with a pair from the foul line before Nwajei answered with a jumper in the paint maintaining Wagner's five-point defecit. Seconds later, Washington hit a triple from the right wing sparking a 17-point Pioneer run giving SHU its largest lead of the night, 52-30 with just over 14 minutes left to play. Nwajei snapped Sacred Heart's managing a heavily contested layup earning her 1,000th career point.
The Pioneers maintained at least a 12-point lead through the rest of the game, but were unable to stop Nwajei who put up 15 strain points for Wagner in the second half.
Sacred Heart returns home this Saturday to host the Bryant University Bulldogs as part of a doubleheader with the men's basketball team beginning at 1:00 p.m.
