Emmitsburg, MD. (January 30, 2017)—The Sacred Heart women's basketball team travelled to Emmitsburg, Maryland for their tenth Northeast Conference game of the season, and went on to fall 61-59 in an a thriller against the Mountaineers of Mount St. Mary's. The Pioneers were lead by Hannah Kimmel who finished the night with 20 points; also posting double digit scoring was SHU's Katherine Haines who finished the night with 10 points.

The Mountaineers struck first, getting a layup after a SHU turnover. Each team would exchange a pair of baskets, with Haines, Kimmel, and Erin Storck scoring for the Pioneers.  The Score was tied 9-9 with 6:12 remaining. The Pioneers would take their first lead of the night, after a made layup from Storck to move the score to 11-9 with 4:40 remaining in the first. The Pioneers would then go on an 8-2 run, taking a 19-11 lead with a little over a minute remaining in the first. Williams closed out the first quarter with a jumper to give the Pioneers a 24-12 lead.

Kimmel would rattle off two layups to open the second quarter, but the Mount would respond with a bucket from downtown to move the score 30-15, with 5:31 left in the first half.  Mount St. Mary's would go on an 8-2 run, cutting the Pioneers lead to 34-23 with 2:35 remaining in the second quarter. With just over a minute remaining Mount's Alexis Carter would hit a shot from beyond the arc to force SHU to take a timeout. Despite being outscored 17-10 in the second quarter the Pioneers entered halftime with a 34-29 lead.

A layup from Storck, followed up by a bucket beyond the arc from Kimmel got the Pioneers off to a good start for the second half. Kimmel accounted for 8 of the 10 points in the opening three minutes of the third quarter to give SHU a 44-35 lead with 6:59 remaining. Shelby Hickey would hit a shot beyond the arc, but the Mount would answer with a 5-0 run to put the score 47-46 in favor of SHU. Going into the final quarter of the game, SHU would hold a 49-48 lead.

Mount St. Mary's would get the first basket of the final quarter, taking their first lead since the first half. Hickey would hit back-to-back basket from downtown to give the Pioneers a 57-55 lead with 5:50 remaining in regulation.. Mount would regain the lead 59-57 after a made layup from Carter, but Storck would respond to tie it back up at 59 a piece with 1:41 left in regulation. In an absolute thriller, the game stood at 61-59 in favor of Mount St. Mary's with: 16 seconds left, a last ditch effort from Williams wouldn't fall, as the Pioneers fell 61-59. 

The Pioneers are back at home as they take on the Bryant Bulldogs on February 4th at 1:00pm.

Noteworthy:

• The Pioneers shot an impressive .667 (10-15) in the opening quarter of play, and would go on to close the game shooting
• Kimmel shot her sixth 20+ point game of the season, as she finished the night with 20 points 

Inside the Box:

• SHU out rebounded the Mountaineers 24-12 entering the half, and finished the game with 36 rebounds, compared to Mount St. Mary's 24 
• Haines, and Shelby Hickey led SHU with seven rebounds apiece

Turning Point:

• Mount St. Mary's Caroline Hummell shot a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line. Her last two free throws came with :23 seconds remaining in the game to give the Mountaineers a 61-59 lead. The Pioneers weren't able to answer from there, where the game would finish 61-59

How It Happened:

First Quarter:

• The Mountaineers struck first, getting a layup after a SHU turnover
• Each team would exchange a pair of baskets, with Haines, Kimmel, and Storck scoring for the Pioneers. Score tied 9-9 with 6:12 remaining
• The Pioneers would take their first lead of the night after a made layup from Storck 11-9 with 4:40 remaining in the first
• The Pioneers would then go on an 8-2 run, taking a 19-11 lead with a little over a minute remaining in the first
• Williams closed out the first quarter with a jumper to give the Pioneers a 24-12 lead

Second Quarter:

• Kimmel would rattle off two layups to open the second quarter, but the Mount would respond with a bucket from downtown to move the score 30-15 with 5:31 left in the first half
• Mount St. Mary's would go on an 8-2 run to close the gap too 34-23
• With just over a minute remaining Mount's Alexis Carter would hit a shot from beyond the arc to force SHU to take a timeout
• Despite being outscored 17-10 in the second quarter the Pioneers entered halftime with a 34-29 lead

Third Quarter:

• A layup from Storck, followed up by a bucket beyond the arc from Kimmel got the Pioneers off to a good start for the second half
• Kimmel accounted for 8 of the 10 points in the opening three minutes of the third quarter to give SHU a 44-35 lead with 6:59 remaining
• Hickey hit a shot beyond the arc, but the Mount would answer with a 5-0 run to put the score 47-46 in favor of SHU
• Going into the final quarter of the game, SHU would hold a 49-48 lead

Fourth Quarter:

• Mount St. Mary's would get the first basket of the final quarter, taking their first lead since the first half
• Hickey would hit back-to-back basket from downtown to give the Pioneers a 57-55 lead with 5:50 remaining in regulation
• Mount would regain the lead 59-57 after a made layup from Carter, but Storck would respond to tie it back up at 59 a piece with 1:41 left in regulation
• In an absolute thriller, the game stood at 61-59 in favor of Mount St. Mary's with: 16 seconds left, a last ditch effort from Williams wouldn't fall, as the Pioneers fell 61-59