HAMDEN, Conn. – Ny'Ceara Pryor led the Pioneers in scoring and cracked the program's top-five scorers list in Sacred Heart University women's basketball's road 71-47 loss to Quinnipiac on Thursday evening in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play in Hamden. 

With a layup in the third quarter, Pryor moved into the top five of SHU's career points leaders, passing Diane Nicholls (1,632). The outstanding junior has scored 1,637 points in her career, and she leads the MAAC in scoring at 18.9 ppg. 

Pryor paced the Pioneers with 17 points tonight, adding three rebounds, two assists and a steal to her stat line. Emma Kirby and Dianne Crespo López were next on the team with eight points, while Amelia Wood finished with five points and eight boards. 

Records: 
Sacred Heart: 6-16, 2-11 MAAC
Quinnipiac: 20-3, 12-2 MAAC
 
Leaders: 
Ny'Ceara Pryor: 17 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Amelia Wood: 5 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal

Of Note: 
The Pioneers hit the ground running to start tonight's game, going up eight after the opening 4:26. Kirby led the way with six of the 12 points on three layups, while a Wood trailing 3-pointer capped the early run. Defensively, SHU held the Bobcats to 2-for-6 shooting with a pair of turnovers. 

Unfortunately for the Pios, Quinnipiac's defense took over in the final 5:34. QU scored the last 12 of the quarter to take a 16-12 lead into the second. 

Kirby sank the first basket of the second quarter, but it marked one of SHU's few buckets in the frame. Pryor's win triple was the Pios' other field goal in the quarter, as QU took the period, 17-8, to build a 33-20 halftime lead. 

The Bobcats continued to control the action in the second half, taking the final 20 minutes, 38-27. SHU got a spark from Crespo López in the fourth, as the first year hit a pair of 3-pointers and a layup off the bench. 

Up Next:
The Pioneers will next head to Loudonville, N.Y., to play Siena on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 6 p.m. at the Saints' UHY Center.