FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University women's basketball team heads to Merrimack on Saturday for its regular-season road finale in Northeast Conference (NEC) play. 

LIVE STATS | LIVE STREAM (ESPN+) | GAME NOTES

OPENING TIP

• The Pioneers and Warriors will meet for the 13th time on Saturday, with Merrimack holding a slim 7-5 lead in the series.  
• Sacred Heart won the last two games against the Warriors, including last year's NEC semifinal and a home 65-51 triumph in the two teams' league opener this season on Jan. 6. 
• The Pioneers have won 10 straight games heading into Saturday, the team's longest streak since winning 11 in a row in the 2015-16 season. 
• Sacred Heart improved to 13-1 in the NEC with a win over Stonehill on Thursday. SHU remains one game ahead of second-place Le Moyne in the league standings with two games to play in the regular season. 
• Sierra Johnson had one of the best games of her career on Thursday, tying a career high with 16 points and setting a new career mark with 10 assists on her way to her first collegiate double-double. 
• Ny'Ceara Pryor joined her classmate with an outstanding game, posting 21 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals in one of her patented all-around performances. 
• Nalyce Dudley and Olivia Tucker also finished with 10+ points, as Dudley tallied 12 points and eight boards, while Tucker finished with 11 points.

CAREER NIGHT FOR SIERRA
Sophomore guard Sierra Johnson put on a show in SHU's win over Stonehill on Thursday. The Richmond, Va., native tied a career high in scoring with 16 points and set a new career high with 10 assists for the first collegiate double-double. She hit 7-of-13 shots from the floor and buried two 3-pointers. Johnson has done a little bit of everything for SHU this season, as she has five double-digit scoring games and two eight-rebound outings to accompany her 10-assist performance against the Skyhawks. 

HITTING DOUBLE DIGITS
With Thursday's win over Stonehill, the Pioneers extended their win streak to 10 games, the team's longest streak since winning 11 straight in the 2015-16 campaign. That year was also the last time SHU won 20 games in a season and was the last campaign that the Pioneers took home the regular-season NEC championship.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
The Warriors head into Saturday's clash with an 11-16 overall record and are fourth in the NEC standings at 8-6. Merrimack just saw its four-game win streak come to a close on Thursday with a 71-63 loss to FDU at home. The Warriors have used a balanced scoring approach this season, with three players averaging 10+ points. Kaylee Thomas leads the team with 13.9 points per game, while Jayme DeCesare (11.1) and Amaya Staton (10.9) rank second and third, respectively. Staton has also been a defensive threat this year, ranking second in the NEC with 1.7 blocks per game and sixth in rebounding at 6.7. 

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. MERRIMACK
The Pioneers and Warriors have met 12 times before Saturday's contest, with Merrimack owning a slim 7-5 lead in the all-time series. SHU fell in both regular-season contests in 2022-23 but avenged those defeats with a 68-61 win in the NEC Semifinals on its way to a conference championship. The Pios took this season's matchup, 65-51, in the two teams' NEC opener on Jan. 6 at the Pitt Center.