FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University women's basketball team begins the month of February with a 2 p.m. tilt against Manhattan on Saturday, Feb. 1, at the Jaspers' Draddy Gymnasium in Riverdale, N.Y.

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OPENING TIP

• Sacred Heart hits the road on Saturday, Feb. 1, to play Manhattan at 2 p.m. at Draddy Gymnasium in Riverdale, N.Y.
• The Pioneers dominated Niagara to the tune of an 86-43 home win in its most recent game on Saturday, Jan. 25. 
• SHU led by 15 at the halftime break before ballooning the advantage to 43 with a high-scoring second half. 
• The Pios' 40-point win was its first since defeating Saint Peter's, 79-34, on Nov. 20, 2012. 
• Sacred Heart tallied season-highs in both scoring and field goal percentage against the Purple Eagles at 51.7% (30-for-58). 
• Ny'Ceara Pryor led the way for the Pioneers with a game-high 19 points, eight assists, five rebounds and six steals in 29 minutes. 
• After this past week, Pryor leads the MAAC at 18.8 points per game.
• Including Pryor, Ciara Brannon (12), Amelia Wood (11), Esther Kursite (11) and Nalyce Dudley (10) all crossed double figures against the Purple Eagles. 
• Kursite finished with career-highs in points and rebounds (7), while Brannon's 12 points is a new career mark for the senior.

LAST TIME OUT
The Pioneers got back to their winning ways this past Saturday, rolling to a dominant 86-43 win over Niagara on National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD). A 15-point halftime lead ballooned to 43 by the end of the game after a high-scoring second half for the Pioneers. SHU's 40-point win was its first since defeating Saint Peter's, 79-34, on Nov. 20, 2012. The Pios' tallied season-highs in both scoring and field goal percentage against the Purple Eagles at 51.7% (30-for-58). Ny'Ceara Pryor was outstanding for the Pioneers in the runaway victory, tallying a game-high 19 points, eight assists, five rebounds and six steals in 29 minutes. 

EVERYBODY ATE
With its first 80-point game since Feb. of last season, five players scored 10+ points Niagara. Including Pryor, Ciara Brannon (12), Amelia Wood (11), Esther Kursite (11) and Nalyce Dudley (10) all crossed double figures. Brannon and Kursite both tallied career-high scoring outputs, while Kursite added a career-best seven boards.

SCOUTING MANHATTAN

• The Jaspers head into the weekend with a 10-9 overall record and a 4-6 mark in the MAAC after falling to Iona by a 64-47 final score on Thursday. 
• Manhattan dropped its first three MAAC contests before winning its next four against Rider, Mount St. Mary's, Merrimack and Niagara. 
• The Jaspers lost their last three league games against Fairfield, Mount and Iona all by double figures. 
• Nitzan Amar leads the way for Manhattan with team highs in points (11.1) and assists (5.4) per game. 
• Amar tallied 15 points against the Gaels Thursday, her second highest total of the season. 
• Graduate Leyla Öztürk leads the Jaspers in the post with 1.8 blocks per game and is second on the team with 6.3 rebounds. 
• Senior Petra Juric leads the team with 6.4 rebounds per game to go along with 9.1 points. 

SERIES HISTORY

• The Pioneers will battle the Jaspers for the eighth time in the two teams' histories on Saturday afternoon. 
• SHU leads the all-time series 4-3, winning each of the last three matchups. 
• The Pios topped the Jaspers 74-46 in Riverdale, N.Y. on Dec. 16, 2018 in the last meeting between the teams.