FAIRFIELD, Conn.— Despite a late Seahawk charge in the second half, the Sacred Heart University women's basketball team took an early lead and held on to defeat Wagner, 66-58, and close out the regular season on Thursday.

Records:
Sacred Heart: 15-13, 12-4, NEC
Wagner: 13-14, 8-8 NEC
 
Top Performers:
Ny'Ceara Pryor: 17 pts, 8 rebs, 6 asts, 4 stls
Sajada Bonner: 11 pts, 5 rebs
Ciara Brannon: 10 pts, 6 rebs
 
Of Note
Sacred Heart had a 38-27 advantage at the half. Wagner went on a 6-2 run at the start of the third quarter to cut the deficit to single digits.
 
After the Seahawks worked the lead down to five, graduate student Sajada Bonner sank a three-pointer at the 3:29 mark to keep the Pioneers in front. A layup from first-year Amelia Wood and two free throws from teammate Ny'Ceara Pryor gave SHU the 50-41 lead at the end of the quarter.
 
Wagner cut the score back within five at the start of the fourth, but Pryor got the steal and scored on a fast break layup that sparked a 6-1 run to grow the Pioneers' lead by 12, 58-46.
 
The Seahawks tallied five unanswered points followed by a three in the final 50 seconds to bring the score within four, 60-56.
 
The Pioneers pulled away with a perfect 6-of-6 combined from Amelia and senior Olivia Tucker at the charity stripe.
 
SHU had a night in the rebounding category, grabbing a season-high 40 on the defensive end while combining for an overall season-high 53 boards.
 
Pryor led all scorers with 17 points while Bonner finished with 11. Junior Ciara Brannon posted a career-high 10 points. Amelia grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds. 
 
Up Next
SHU will be the No. 2 seed in the 2023 Northeast Conference Tournament and hosts No. 7 LIU in the quarterfinals on Monday.