Sacred Heart Returns Home to Host Mount St. Mary’s

Friday, January 21

Fairfield, Conn.

7:00 PM

Sacred Heart

Mount St. Mary's (Md.)

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Photo by: Steve McLaughlin

Sacred Heart Returns Home to Host Mount St. Mary’s

1/20/2022 3:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on NEC Front Row

NEC Front Row | Live Stats | SHU Game Notes | Mount St. Mary's Game Notes

FAIRFIELD, Conn.— The Sacred Heart University women's basketball team returns to home court for a Northeast Conference contest with defending champion Mount St. Mary's on Friday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. with Tykera Carter and Dominique Patrick on the call.

OPENING TIP
·       Sacred Heart leads the series against Mount St. Mary's 34-8.
·       Last season, the Pioneers split the series at home against the Mountaineers. Sacred Heart lost game one 84-60 but came back in game two to earn the 79-71 victory.
·       Adrianne Hagood and Carly Stroemel amassed double figures in both games. Hagood tallied 16 points in game one and 13 in game two. Stroemel had 10-point performances in both games. Nikki Johnson notched 16 points in game one.
·       Sacred Heart leads the NEC and is ranked 17th nationally in the fewest turnovers with 180.
·       Sonia Smith is fifth in the league in scoring with 13.5 points per game and assists with 4.3 per game. Olivia Tucker ranks fifth in three-point field goals made with 1.9 per game. Carly Stroemel is tied for fourth in blocks with 1.0 per game.

THE CHARITY STRIPE
One part of Sacred Heart's success has been the opportunities earned from the charity stripe. The Pioneers matched their season-high 20-of-25 (.800) from the free-throw line at CCSU (1/17). Adrianne Hagood leads with 26-of-33 (.778) and had a perfect 6-of-6 against Army (11/21). Sonia Smith ranks second in the category with 24-of-35 (.686). Asia McCray is third with 18-of-29 (.621) and notched a career-high of 9-of-10, including a perfect 8-for-8 in the third quarter in the home opener against Brown (11/14). Sacred Heart has won two contests on edge thanks to free throws. The Pioneers' most recent victory came at CCSU (1/17) when they sealed the victory 63-56 on 10-of-12 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, including 4-of-6 in the final 30 seconds.

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK
Sacred Heart takes care of the ball better than anyone in the NEC. The Pioneers lead the conference and are 17th nationally in the fewest turnovers with 180. Sacred Heart had a season-low 11 turnovers in its first game of the season at Hartford (11/10).

SMITH STEPPING UP
Sonia Smith leads Sacred Heart and ranks fifth in the NEC in scoring with 13.5 points per game. The junior grabbed a season-high 22 points in back-to-back games to start the year. She shot 9-for-19 from the field at Hartford (11/10) and 8-for-13 from the field against Brown (11/14). Smith also ranks fifth in the conference in assists per game (4.3) thanks to matching her career high with seven at Boston College (12/21). She has earned NEC Player of the Week honors twice so far this season.

HAGOOD DOING HER THING
Adrianne Hagood has been the glue to Sacred Heart when she decided to return for her fifth season. Since being named to Preseason All-NEC for the second year in a row, the graduate student has posted 12.5 points per game and is shooting 29-of-75 from the field, 16-of-40 from the three-point line and 26-of-33 from the free-throw line. Hagood earned her first NEC Player of the Week honors after posting a 25-point performance at Monmouth (12/2). She notched 22 points, scoring 18 of them on a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the three-point line against Bryant (12/31). Hagood also drained a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line against Army (11/21).

KELSEY WOOD
Wood is scoring 5.0 points and leads the Pioneers with 6.6 rebounds per game. The sophomore grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds at Monmouth (12/2). In Sacred Heart's 63-56 victory over CCSU (1/17), Wood amassed her fourth career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.