LORETTO, Pa. – A career-high night by senior Nikki Johnson lifted the Sacred Heart University women's basketball team to a Northeast Conference victory on Tuesday. The Pioneers went on the road to defeat first-place St. Francis, 76-70.

Records:
St. Francis: 11-6, 9-2 NEC
Sacred Heart: 8-5, 8-3 NEC

Top Performers:
Nikki Johnson (SHU): 31 points, 4 assists
Kelsey Wood (SHU): 11 points, 10 rebounds
Adrianne Hagood (SHU): 14 points 

Up Next:
The series wraps up Wednesday with game two at 4 p.m.

Of Note:
Johnson produced a career-high 31 points, the most by a Pioneer since Hannah Kimmel posted 32 versus St. Francis Brooklyn on March 5, 2017.

Sacred Heart trailed by seven midway through the fourth quarter. Johnson's layup with 2:18 remaining tied the game at 65-65 and neither team scored the rest of the way to force overtime.

In the extra frame, Johnson converted a three-point play to put SHU up 70-67. Her layup with 44 seconds left sealed the victory.

SHU got off to a good start with an 18-12 advantage in the first quarter. Johnson drained a three-pointer 40 seconds into the second stanza to put SHU up 21-12. 

Unfortunately, the Pioneers went cold for nearly five minutes which allowed the Red Flash to take a 31-21 lead. Johnson hit a shot at the buzzer to close the halftime deficit to 47-44.

Turning in a double-double was rookie Kelsey Wood with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Adrianne Hagood added 14 points. 

The Pioneers survived a three-point barrage by St. Francis as they hit 10 three balls – the most by a SHU opponent this year. Sacred Heart turned 16 SFU turnovers into 18 points.