FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University women's basketball continues non-conference play with a 5 p.m. road clash at Providence on Saturday, Dec. 16. 

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OPENING TIP

• The Pioneers and Friars have met six times before Saturday's contest, with the series tied at 3-3 all time.
• SHU's most recent contest was a 60-50 setback at Iona last Saturday.
• The Pios looked primed for a comeback, turning a 17-point deficit into eight, 53-45, with four minutes left. Unfortunately for Sacred Heart, a 4-0 run by the Gaels iced the win for the home team.
• The Pioneers' leading scorer Saturday was Ny'Ceara Pryor with 16 points. The outstanding sophomore also paced the team with 11 rebounds and six assists against Iona.
• Pryor has scored 15+ points in six consecutive games and has led the team in scoring in four straight.
• Nalyce Dudley was second on the team with 11 points, her fourth consecutive double-digit scoring effort and her fourth overall this season.
• Pryor, Sierra Johnson and Amelia Wood led the rebounding efforts with 11, eight and seven, respectively.

AWARD UPDATES
For the first time this season, the Pioneers swept the NEC weekly awards, as Pryor was tabbed the league's Player of the Week and Nalyce Dudley Rookie of the Week. Pryor's impressive string of play has not gone unnoticed by the conference, with the sophomore winning four straight Player of the Week nods in the five weeks the honor has been awarded. The Baltimore, Md., native averaged team highs with 18.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.0 steals per game. Dudley won her first weekly award from the conference after being second on the team with 11.5 points per game last week. The first year forward from Norwich, Conn., also averaged 4.5 rebounds per game, shooting 8-for-13 (61.5%) from the floor and 7-for-9 (77.8%) from the free throw line.

CLEANING THE GLASS
Over SHU's two games last week, the Pios' three leading rebounders were all guards. Pryor led the way with 8.5 rebounds, while Wood and Johnson averaged 6.5 boards per game. Pryor paces the team for the season and is fourth in the NEC with 6.6 rebounds per game. Wood is second on the Pioneers at 5.6.

MILESTONE WATCH
SHU's second-leading scorer, Bonner (10.4 ppg), is getting closer and closer to reaching 1,000 points in her illustrious career. The Cliffwood, N.J. native has played the last two seasons at Sacred Heart after spending her first three collegiate campaigns at nearby Quinnipiac. Bonner is up to 969 points in her career heading into Sunday, 455 of those coming as a Pioneer. 

SCOUTING THE FRIARS
Providence is exactly .500 through 10 games this season, heading into Saturday's game with a 5-5 record. The Friars have won back-to-back contests, defeating Rhode Island and Yale last week. Brynn Farrell led the way for Providence with a career-high 23 against the Bulldogs. Olivia Olsen, the team's leading scorer, was at her season average with 15 against Yale. Olsen also paces the team 7.8 rebounds per game and is 29th in the country with a 58.7 field-goal percentage. Following Saturday's game, the Friars will play two games at the 2023 West Palm Beach Classic before opening Big East play at Seton Hall on Dec. 30.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. PROVIDENCE 
The Pioneers and Friars have met six times before Saturday's clash, with the all-time record being tied at 3-3. Providence won the last two games in the series, one at the Pitt and one in Rhode Island. Before that, SHU won three games in a row, the last being a 78-75 victory in Fairfield on Dec. 9, 2017.