FAIRFIELD, Conn.— Saturday's Northeast Conference contest beween the Sacred Heart University women's basketball team and Stonehill went down to the wire. Stonehill got within a possession late in the game, but the Pioneers held on for the 66-61 victory.
 
Records:
Sacred Heart: 10-10, 7-1 NEC
Stonehill: 6-15, 2-6 NEC
 
Top Performers:
Ny'Ceara Pryor: 17 pts, 6 rebs, 6 asts, 4 stls
Kelsey Wood: 11 pts, 7 rebs
 
Of Note
A pair of free throws cut the SHU margin to 61-59 with 22 seconds remaining. Rookie Ny'Ceara Pryor made all four of her free throws to seal the win. Pryor scored the last nine points as part of her team-high 17.
 
Winner of eight of their last nine games, the Pioneers were up by 10 with 5:31 left in the fourth quarter. The Skyhawks notched eight unanswered points to trim the lead to 57-55.
 
A candidate for National Defensive Player of the Year, Pryor picked off a Stonehill pass and went coast-to-coast for a layup to stop the run. The rest was done by the Baltimore, Md. native at the charity stripe as she drained 7-of-8 to help ice the victory.
 
It was 32-27 in the Pioneers' favor at the halfway mark. Sacred Heart took its largest lead, 48-34, with 2:46 left in the third quarter after back-to-back three-pointers from Olivia Tucker and Amelia Wood.
 
Pryor scored in double-figures for the 20^th time this season. Junior Kelsey Wood had another impressive performance after recording a double-double at LIU. The elder Wood racked up 11 points and a team-leading seven rebounds.
 
Sacred Heart pulled out the win thanks to a 36-16 advantage in the paint and 13 points on the fast break.
 
Up Next
Sacred Heart hits the road for the next two contest, beginning at Wagner on Thursday at 7 p.m.